Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Friday that Turkey and Israel could work together to deliver natural gas from the Middle East to Europe, and the two countries would discuss energy cooperation during talks next month.
Erdogan told reporters on a return flight from Kyiv that energy cooperation would be on the agenda during Israeli President Isaac Herzog’s visit to Turkey in mid-March, Reuters reported.
“We could use Israeli natural gas in our country, and beyond that, we could also work together to carry it to Europe,” Erdogan said, according to Turkey’s pro-government Daily Sabah.
Turkey — battered by an economic crisis at home — has been seen taking steps to improve relations with regional rivals, after a reported drop in US support for a controversial Mediterranean gas pipeline.
“We will hopefully have these issues on our agenda during Mr. Herzog’s visit to Turkey,” he said.
He added Ankara was also discussing signing a natural gas supply deal with Iraq, the reports said.
Erdogan has indicated that he wanted Turkey to be involved in the import of Israeli gas to Europe, saying there had been “some progress” on the matter in the past.
Israel and a group of countries, including Turkey’s rival Greece, have been working on a joint pipeline to bring eastern Mediterranean gas to Europe. Turkey strongly opposed the project and staked its own territorial claims to the region’s energy wealth.
Officials quoted by Haaretz last week said that better ties with Turkey will not come at the expense of Israel’s alliance with Greece and Cyprus, who were reportedly already aware of the possibility.
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