Aksa: No order to cut power to Syria

ISTANBUL - Radikal

Aksa Enerji’s CEO says Aleppo faces 45 degree heat and need Aksa’s electricity for refigerators. Hürriyet photo

Aksa Enerji, which provides electricity to one million people in the Syrian city of Aleppo, has not received any orders from the Turkish government to stop providing power, Aksa Executive Board Director Cemil Kazancı has told daily Radikal. Kazancı added that if they were told not to sell to Syria, they would turn their focus to the domestic market. 

Turkey has been providing 250 megawatts of electricity to neighboring Syria for the past four years, and has hinted that it might turn off the valves because of the current crisis between the two countries. 

“Our contract is for the long-term. However, our transmission lines are renewed annually... When the government says ‘we will not be transmitting electricity,’ we won’t be able to send electricity to them. We won’t be hurt though. We have exports. We’ll sell to the domestic market,” said Kazancı. 

Humanitarian situation 

However, he also added that there was a humanitarian situation to be considered in Syria, and that one million people in Aleppo relied on Turkish electricity to operate their refrigerators. 

“Lighting is not that important, but right now it is 45 degrees over there. Air conditioners won’t be running and Aleppo will be forced to fend for itself,” he said.