TURKEY OPPOSES IRAN SANCTIONS

REUTERS - Turkey has told American officials it opposes U.S. sanctions on Iran and is not obliged to implement them, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Tuesday.

President Donald Trump has pulled the United States out of a 2015 nuclear pact with Iran and ordered U.S. sanctions on Tehran, while a senior State Department official said Washington has told allies to cut imports of Iranian oil by November

Turkey has criticized Trump's move to withdraw from the nuclear pact and has publicly resisted the U.S. call to cut oil imports from Iran.

"We do not have to adhere to the sanctions imposed on a country by another country. We don't find the sanctions right either," Cavusoglu told a news conference in Azerbaijan.

"We held meetings with the United States in Ankara and told them openly: Turkey gets oil and gas from Azerbaijan, Iran, Russia and Iraq. If I don't buy from Iran now, where am I supposed to meet that need from?" Cavusoglu said.

Last week U.S. Treasury and State Department officials met Turkish counterparts in Ankara to discuss sanctions on Iran. Ankara said authorities were working to prevent Turkey being hurt by the measures.

Turkey depends on imports for almost all of its energy needs. In the first four months of this year, Turkey bought more than 3 million tonnes of crude oil from Iran, almost 55 percent of its total crude supplies, according to data from the Turkish energy watchdog (EPDK).

Ties between Ankara and Washington, NATO allies, have been strained over a host of issues including several legal cases.

A Turkish court last week ruled to keep American pastor Andrew Brunson in jail, in a case that has deepened existing rifts and jeopardized the procurement of Lockheed Martin F-35 jets by Turkey.

The U.S. Senate passed a bill last month including a measure that prohibits Turkey from buying the jets because of Brunson's imprisonment and Turkey's purchase of Russia's S-400 air defense system, which are incompatible with NATO systems.

Cavusoglu, however, said there were no issues with the procurement of the jets and the United States could not exclude Turkey from the project.

"The United States needs to understand that it is not possible to get a result from Turkey through sanctions. They will see results if they approach Turkey with dialogue and respect," he said.

"We will not bow down to such pressures, sanctions or threats. Everyone will get used to the new Turkey."

-----

Earlier: 

2018, April, 4, 09:40:00 RUSSIA - TURKEY NUCLEAR: $20 BLN WNN - The $20 billion project to build the four-unit, 4800 MWe plant is part of Erdogan's '2023 Vision' marking 100 years since the founding of modern Turkey and is intended to reduce the country's dependence on energy imports. The first unit is scheduled to start operations that year, with the other three units following by 2025. The plant is expected to meet about 10% of Turkey's electricity needs. Русский | English

2018, January, 24, 11:55:00 GAZPROM'S TURKSTREAM UNDERWAY GAZPROM - The TurkStream project is well underway. In accordance with the plan, it is carried out simultaneously at three sections: onshore in Russia and Turkey and offshore in the Black Sea. Русский | English

2017, September, 29, 12:15:00 TURKEY NEED IRAQI OIL The government of Turkey said it will deal exclusively with the Iraqi government on oil exports after voters in the semiautonomous Kurdistan Region of Iraq supported independence in a controversial referendum.

2017, August, 16, 09:15:00 IRAN, RUSSIA,TURKEY COOPERATION Iran, Russia and Turkey signed agreement on maintaining trilateral cooperation in developing oil and gas fields. Русский | English

2017, April, 3, 18:45:00 TURKEY'S GAS DIVERSIFICATION Although Turkey has a lack of energy reserves itself, it is a good transit state and can bring benefit to both itself and the EU through the use of alternative pipelines in different regions. Like Russia, Turkey has both problematic and good relations with the European Union, but unlike Russia it wants to be the part of Euro-Atlantic Security Community.

2016, August, 15, 18:45:00 TURKEY WANTS IRANIAN GAS Turkey wants to buy more natural gas from Iran and has discussed pricing issues, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Friday, adding that Ankara and Tehran should resolve a dispute on gas prices without arbitration.

2016, April, 26, 19:55:00 TURKEY GAS OPPORTUNITIES Russia has been developing new pipeline projects such as South Stream, Turk Stream and Nord Stream 2. If one of them were to be realized then transit risk stemming from Ukraine would be severely minimized and Moscow would have important strategic leverage.