Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says his country can find alternatives to Russian oil and gas after Moscow imposed economic sanctions against Ankara over its downing of a latter’s fighter jet over Syrian border.
"It is possible to find different suppliers," Erdogan said during a televised speech on Saturday, as tensions continue to grow between the two countries.
The Turkish leader said there is “no sign” that tensions, which have intensified since the November 24 downing of the Russian jet, would affect energy projects between Ankara and Moscow but added that Ankara is looking for new energy suppliers.
This comes as Erdogan agreed a deal for liquefied natural gas (LNG) with Qatar during a visit to the Persian Gulf country this week while Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu also made a trip to energy-rich Azerbaijan.
On December 3, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said Moscow had suspended preparatory work with Ankara on the joint TurkStream project which aims to pipe gas to Turkey and southern Europe.
Erdogan later dismissed the announcement as false, saying Ankara had already suspended the project.
Turkey receives 90.5 percent of its oil and 98.5 percent of its natural gas from outside suppliers.
On November 28, Russian President Vladimir Putin approved a bill to impose economic sanctions against Turkey in response to the downing of the Russian Su-24M aircraft by Turkey who alleged that the plane had violated its airspace along the border with Syria.
Russia has dismissed the claims by Turkey, saying that its plane was downed on the Syrian side of the border, where it has been conducting combat airstrikes against positions of Daesh Takfiri militants in the Arab country since September 30, a move immediately criticized by Ankara.
Tensions further intensified after Putin said Turkey had downed the plane in order to protect oil supplies from Daesh militants to Turkish territory.
