Syria to resume to buy Turkish power

ISTANBUL - Hürriyet

Syrian men inspect damages in Al-Bab in the northern province of Syria’s Aleppo. A Turkish private firm may resume electricity sales to the country. AFP photo

Turkey will resume electricity sales to Syria after Eid al-Adha, or Feast of Sacrifice, following a cut lasting longer than a week, according to a distributor firm.

Syria had bought 2.3 billion KwH of power from Turkey in the last five months, until the cutoff, mainly due to Syria’s downing of a Turkish military training jet in June.

Turkish Energy Minister Taner Yıldız has said Turkey would not cut power sales to its neighbor because of the people there.

“The Syrian side wanted us to stop sales for some time, saying their power demand had fallen,” an executive from Turkey’s Aksa told daily Hürriyet, adding that electricity exports would restart after Eid.
“Electricity exports to Syria were not halted for political reasons, but things were understood very differently after the plane crisis,” the official said.

The firm has renewed a contract with Syria, extending sales for one more year, said the executive. Another executive from Aksa, said earlier that the cut in power to Syria was due to the damage in the distribution grid.