İYİ Party leader criticizes gov’t energy policies

ANKARA

İYİ (Good) Party leader Meral Akşener has criticized the government’s way of conducting energy policies, saying Turkey became dependent on Russia for its energy needs.

Turkey faces the outcomes of failure in these policies, as seen with the recent price hikes in energy, Akşener said on Oct. 13, addressing her party’s lawmakers at the parliament.

“Recently, BOTAŞ made some of the purchases of 20 cargoes of liquefied natural gas at the cost of more than $1,300 per thousand cubic meters. Germany and Bulgaria get the same gas from the same place, namely Russia. But for some reason, they buy it 40 to 50 percent cheaper than we do,” Akşener stated.

She recalled good relations between President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, saying leaders of Germany and Bulgari did not have such close ties with the Russian president.

“We are the one who has become even more dependent on Russia for natural gas imports by canceling the 14 billion cubic meters Western Line, which provides natural gas flow from Ukraine. Do you think that there is something strange about this?” she asked.