Türkiye on Friday said the lifting of Western sanctions on countries including Iran and Venezuela would alleviate the global energy crisis triggered by Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Venezuela has been hit by U.S. oil sanctions since 2019 and Iran is under U.S. sanctions as talks between Tehran and Washington over reviving a 2015 nuclear deal stall.
Iran has the world's second largest natural gas reserves, after Russia, but lacks the infrastructure to increase exports, which are currently limited to Iraq and Türkiye.
"The entire world needs Venezuela's oil and natural gas ... On the other side, there have been embargoes on the Iranian oil," Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said.
"Remove these sanctions ... if you want the prices to drop, remove the embargoes on the countries that will offer their products to the market," he added.
"You cannot solve the problem by threatening a country."
Moscow's move to cut off gas supplies to Europe amid tensions over Ukraine has triggered an energy crisis across the continent, with consumers and businesses facing high prices as winter approaches.
Türkiye, which has pursued a balancing act with good ties with both Russia and Ukraine, has shied away from Western sanctions on Moscow and instead has bolstered trade ties with its Black Sea neighbor.
Türkiye has also offered to serve as an energy hub, enabling Russian gas to reach Europe, after Russian President Vladimir Putin proposed the idea to President Erdoğan.
Erdoğan this week reiterated: “Türkiye will be a hub for natural gas. In our last meeting, we agreed with Putin on this issue. We will create a hub here with Turkish gas coming from Russia.”
Erdoğan previously said Russian and Turkish energy authorities would work together to designate the best location for the potential gas distribution center, adding that Türkiye’s Thrace region, bordering Greece and Bulgaria, appeared to be the best spot.
