Turkey says increasing energy exports to Syria

Turkish Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar said Thursday in Damascus that his country would ramp up energy exports to Syria to help boost electricity supplies as its neighbour seeks to recover after years of war.

"We want to triple our current electricity exports to meet Syria's electricity needs, and realise an electricity export of approximately 1,000 megawatts in the coming months," said Bayraktar during a press conference with his Syrian counterpart, Mohammed al-Bashir.

"In a very short time", Turkey also plans to start gas exports to Syria's Aleppo and Homs "of approximately two billion cubic metres per year", Bayraktar said, after signing an agreement with Bashir on energy cooperation.

The Turkish minister added that the exports would add "an additional contribution of 1,200 or 1,300 megawatts" to Syria's electricity production.

He expressed hope that the moves would help boost Syria's electricity supply to more than 10 hours a day.

Two billion cubic metres of gas

Turkey will also provide Syria 2 billion cubic metres of natural gas each year, Bayraktar said on Thursday.

Ankara, which supported rebel forces in neighbouring Syria throughout the 13-year civil war that ended this month with the ousting of Bashar al-Assad, is now positioning itself to play a major role in Syria's reconstruction.

Turkey will also provide an additional 1,000 megawatts of electricity to neighbouring Syria for its short-term needs.

"This will significantly boost electricity generation, which will positively impact the Syrian people's electricity needs," al-Bashir said.

The two ministers discussed completing a 400-kilovolt line that links the countries, contributing to importing around 500 megawatts of electricity into Syria, to be ready by the end of the year or shortly thereafter, he added.

Cooperation also includes opening the door for Turkish companies to invest in mining, phosphate, electricity generation and electricity distribution in Syria.

"There is very intensive work underway regarding the discovery of new natural resources, whether gas or oil, on land or at sea," Bayraktar said. 

Syria's rebels, who toppled Bashar al-Assad in December, are seeking to rebuild the country's infrastructure and economy after almost 14 years of civil war.

The conflict badly damaged Syria's power infrastructure, leading to cuts that can last for more than 20 hours a day.

Bayraktar said that, "the framework agreement we signed together today in the field of energy and minerals and hydrocarbons constitutes an important roadmap".

Turkey is ready to develop projects to help improve Syrians' living conditions "with our own companies, state companies, private companies and international partnerships", he added.

Bashir said they had also agreed "to form specialised technical committees" on energy to "complete the agreement procedures" and follow up on implementation.

Syria is seeking to attract investments, particularly after the United States and the European Union announced this month that they would lift economic sanctions.

In March, Qatar said it had begun funding gas supplies to Syria from Jordan, in a move aimed at addressing electricity production shortages and improving infrastructure.

Both Turkey and Qatar have close ties with Syria's new authorities and were the first two countries to reopen their embassies in Damascus after Assad's ouster.