Turkey neither intends to escalate the situation regarding the downing of the Russian warplane, nor would apologize to Russia for the incident, Davutoglu said at Azerbaijan’s ADA University here, pointing out that Russia’s accusations of Turkey stabbing Moscow in the back are groundless. The pipeline’s initial capacity is expected at 16 billion cubic meters a year. The jet dropped 4 km away from the Turkish border. The preliminary cost of the pipeline has been estimated at $10-$11 billion.
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Russia’s defense ministry said on Wednesday (December 2) it had proof that Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan and his family were benefiting from the illegal smuggling of oil from Islamic State-held territory in Syria and Iraq.
“There is indeed a crisis right now…” Ankara buys almost 60 percent of its total gas needs – around 27 billion cubic meters (bcm) – from Russian Federation via two main pipelines, which enter Turkey through the Marmara region, the country’s industrial hub which includes Istanbul, its biggest city, and the most sensitive area to any disruption in supply.
“Earlier this week, Moscow Russia+Confirms” announced it was suspending work on Turkish Stream, calling on Ankara to clarify whether it was still interested in the project.
“I don’t think they will be able to put TANAP on-stream in time because this pipeline has never been considered as an alternative to the Turkish Stream project”, Grivach told Sputnik Radio.
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He said though talks on building a nuclear power plant in Turkey remained open. Russian Federation denies the claim and has since slapped economic sanctions on Turkey.
