More good news on natural gas findings awaits: Erdoğan

ERZURUM

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has said he will give more good news regarding Türkiye’s newly found massive natural gas reserves in the Black Sea after a weekly cabinet meeting on Dec. 26.

“We are working day and night to link the gas we have found in the Black Sea to our national gas distribution system. Thanks God, we will share the new good news on this issue with our people on Monday [Dec. 26],” Erdoğan said during the opening ceremony of the Gürcükapı Urban Transformation Project, İspir-Rize Provincial Border Road, Çat Disaster Houses, and other newly-completed projects in the eastern province of Erzurum on Dec. 24.

Türkiye discovered around 540 billion cubic meters of natural gas in the Sakarya Field in the Black Sea and continues to search for more reserves in the same area. The Energy Ministry is planning to connect the undersea natural gas pipeline to the already existing national gas system in the first half of 2023, the centennial of the foundation of the Republic of Türkiye.

“Likewise, there will be some more good news we will give to our people after starting to use the Black Sea natural gas,” Erdoğan said. “As I always say, we will increase the welfare of our people step by step by offering Türkiye’s opportunities across the country, and we will build a peaceful future by strengthening our security.”

Most important initiative of Türkiye

Stressing the importance of Erzurum for Türkiye and its region, Erdoğan stated that they want to make Erzurum a shining star of the whole region from north to south, east to west and from the Black Sea to the Caucasus in the Century of Türkiye.

“We have implemented a century’s worth of democracy and development initiatives in the past two decades. We have redressed the infrastructure shortcomings of Erzurum, along with all the cities of our country, and have realized their dreams of rights and freedoms through our politics of services and projects,” Erdoğan stated.

“With the Century of Türkiye vision in our Republic’s new century, we are preparing to launch the most important initiative of our millennium-long history in our geography,” he stated.

Drawing attention to Türkiye’s strengthening bonds with the Islamic world, the Turkic world, Africa, the Balkans and South Asia, Erdoğan said that the relations with Europe, the United States, Russia and China are not neglected either.

“The Silk Railroad, which extends from London to Beijing and where Erzurum is one of the main stations, is a product of this broad vision of ours. Erzurum is one of the most important stations in our efforts to make our country a trade and distribution hub for oil and natural gas networks extending from Asia to Europe,” the president noted.