Turkiye boosts efforts to provide power to Syria, 'rapidly revive' battered energy sector
The Turkish foreign minister said Ankara is working with Syria’s new authorities to provide power to areas without electricity
Turkiye has an interest in providing electricity to Syria and strengthening the country’s energy infrastructure, Turkish Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar was quoted as saying on 27 December.
The energy minister explained to Turkish reporters that Ankara may also cooperate with new Syrian authorities, led by former Al-Qaeda group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), to strengthen oil and natural gas projects in Syria.
“We must very rapidly provide electricity to parts of Syria that do not have electricity, with imports in the initial phase. In the medium-term, we also plan to increase the set electricity power, the production capacity there,” Bayraktar said, according to Turkish newspaper Hurriyet.
“There is a need for everything in Syria. We will work on the infrastructure master plan with the leaders there.” He also said Ankara could potentially send electricity to Lebanon via Syria. Prior to the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s government, US sanctions stalled a gas deal to provide Lebanon with energy via Syria.
The deal was initially brought forth by Washington to prevent Hezbollah from continuing efforts to bring in Iranian gas to Lebanon. The US-sponsored agreement never materialized.
“There is a need for everything in Syria. We will work on the infrastructure master plan with the leaders there,” the Turkish energy minister went on to say. “There are many topics that need to mature, from forming an oil pipeline from Syria to Turkey, merging this with our Iraq–Turkey pipeline.”
Regarding the pipeline, the minister said “there are ongoing discussions about transporting Qatari gas through Syria to Turkiye and Europe,” and that “these plans are still in the early stages and require further technical and financial evaluation.”
He added that the pipeline project could help create a significant energy corridor in Syria.
“We plan to share our potential contributions with our counterparts. Projects such as integrating a Syrian oil pipeline with the Iraq–Turkiye pipeline and transporting Qatari gas through Syria to Turkiye and Europe are still in early stages. Similar to how we transport Gabar oil to Idil via a 38-kilometer pipeline, a similar model could be applied here,” Bayraktar said.
The Turkiye–Qatar natural gas pipeline project was proposed in the early 2000s and was aimed at transporting Qatari gas towards Turkiye and into Europe via Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and Syria. The Qatari proposal was rejected by the former government in Syria.
The revival of these energy projects comes as Ankara has signaled that it will have a hand in drafting Syria’s new constitution.
Turkish military forces have been occupying Syria since 2016 and supporting a coalition of armed extremist factions called the Syrian National Army (SNA), which helps Turkiye combat Kurdish militants in the country. Ankara has also provided support to HTS over the years, particularly back when it was known as Al-Qaeda’s Nusra Front.
Fierce clashes have been raging between the SNA and the US-backed Kurdish militia, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which has close ties to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and its Syrian branch.
The SDF has for years helped US occupation forces in Syria oversee control over the country’s oilfields and energy-rich regions.
Syria’s energy sector has incurred billions in losses over the years due to sanctions, US occupation, and Washington’s looting of Syrian oil.