Türkiye on Saturday began supplying natural gas from Azerbaijan to Syria, via a pipeline that runs through the southern Turkish border province of Kilis, helping meet the war-scarred country's energy needs.
Speaking at the inauguration of the Türkiye-Syria Natural Gas Pipeline, Energy and Natural Resources Minister Alparslan Bayraktar hailed the launch as a "historic moment."
Natural gas connection from Kilis to Syria's Aleppo was completed on May 21, with the restoration of damaged pipelines.
He said up to 2 billion cubic meters (bcm) of natural gas can be exported annually to Syria, generating electricity to power 5 million households.
The pipeline is planned to deliver up to 6 million cubic metres (mcm) of Azeri gas per day to Syria. Initial deliveries are expected to reach Aleppo in northern Syria and subsequently extend to Homs in the country's center, enabling the restart of power plants, Bayraktar stated.
He also said that electricity exports to Syria currently flow through eight points, with capacity set to increase by 25% initially and then more than double.
Syria's energy infrastructure suffered extensive damage due to the civil war that began in 2011.
Power generation facilities, transmission lines, and natural gas systems were heavily damaged, reducing daily electricity supply in many regions to just 3-4 hours. With the start of new gas flows, it is expected to lift the supply to some 10 hours.
Following the collapse of the Baath regime in December 2024, a transitional period was launched in Syria, with the reconstruction of energy infrastructure identified as a top priority.
Leveraging its technical expertise and geographic proximity, Türkiye began actively contributing to rebuilding efforts during this phase.
Türkiye had previously supplied limited amounts of electricity to northern Syria, occasionally providing regional support through transmission lines.
The inauguration ceremony in the border city of Kilis was attended by Syria's Energy Minister Mohammad Al-Bashir, Azerbaijan's Economy Minister Mikayil Jabbarov, and Fahad Hamad Al-Sulaiti, president of the Qatar Development Fund.
Bayraktar said Türkiye signed a swap agreement with SOCAR, Azerbaijan's state-owned oil and gas company, to deliver gas at the Türkiye-Syria border.
He said a similar project was launched in March with Nakhchivan, when the Iğdır-Nakhchivan natural gas pipeline began delivering gas to the Azerbaijani exclave through Türkiye.
"Today, together with Azerbaijan's Economy Minister Mikayil Jabbarov, we inaugurate this new project under the motto 'two states, one nation,'" he said.
The minister also thanked Qatar for its strong support of the project, saying relations between the two nations have deepened in all areas, citing the 2014 launch of the High Strategic Committee as a key step in strengthening cooperation.
