Reuters reported on Monday that Turkey doubled its Russian oil imports annually between January and August 2022, citing new data from financial analyst platform Refinitiv Eikon.
“Turkey has increased its oil imports from Russia, including Urals and Siberia Light grades, to 200,000 bpd this year, up to 98,000 bpd in the same period in 2021,” the news agency reported on August 22.
Data released Monday from Refinitiv Eikon, “Turkish main refineries Tüpraş and the STAR refinery in Azerbaijan have significantly increased their consumption of Russian Urals and Siberia Light oil this year, while reducing their North Sea, Iraqi and West African oil purchases.”
Turkey has refrained from imposing sanctions on Russia since it launched its last war in the country’s neighbor, Ukraine, on February 24. The US government has led its political allies, including most of the European Union (EU), to impose multiple sanctions on Russian organizations and companies. . after the conflict started. The sanctions campaign against Russia has been growing steadily over the past six months.
The EU adopted the “sixth sanctions package” against Russia on June 3, which includes a “partial embargo on Russian oil”, the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) reported on 8 June. Ban the import of petroleum products from February 5, 2023.
Regarding the sanctions package in June, CSIS said, “Pipeline imports of crude oil and petroleum products will be excluded as a result of a compromise with EU member states such as Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic that are dependent on imports via the Druzhba pipeline.” 3.
Yunus Elitaş, Deputy Minister of Finance of Turkey, confirmed to the US Treasury Department on August 20 that “Ankara’s stance on current processes and sanctions has not changed”. He pointed out that Turkey still prefers not to participate in Washington’s financial sanctions campaign against Russia. Elitaş said, “Turkey will not tolerate any violations of sanctions by any institution or person.” Turkey’s deputy finance minister made the remarks to his US counterpart during a phone call between the two sides. Elitaş emphasized in the phone call that Turkey maintains “deep economic and political ties” with Russia.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told reporters in late March that Ankara cannot allow itself to participate in the West’s sanctions campaign against Moscow because Turkey is too dependent on Russian oil and gas to carry out such actions.
Turkey Liberty The newspaper reported that Erdogan said on 25 March:
We are reviewing some UN directives in terms of sanctions, but let’s not forget that we cannot set aside our relationship with Russia. You know, I explained this a long time ago because if we only buy natural gas today, almost half of the natural gas we use comes from Russia.
We are also building our Akkuyu NPP together with Russia. We cannot ignore this. after i said that [French President Emmanuel] Even Macron said I was right. We must preserve this sensitivity. First, I can’t leave people to freeze in the winter, and second, I can’t completely restart this industry.
Erdogan met with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, in Sochi, Russia, on August 5, for talks to resume economic cooperation between Ankara and Moscow. The leaders of the two countries held a face-to-face meeting behind closed doors and said, “Turkey’s driving force was to review the bilateral relations between the two countries, mainly economy, trade and energy. – Relations with Russia.” “Turkey Everyday Morning newspaper reported at that time.
The newspaper said, “They will also exchange views on possible steps to expand bilateral cooperation.”
Source: Breitbart
