12/31/2024–|Last updated: 12/31/202411:56 AM (Mecca time)
Turkish Energy Minister Alp Arslan Bayraktar said that his country is ready to supply Syria and Lebanon with electricity, and that a team of government officials is already in Syria to discuss how to solve its energy problems.
Ankara reopened its embassy in Damascus, and has already held high-level contacts with the leader of the new administration, Ahmed Al-Sharaa.
Bayraktar told reporters in the city of Şanlıurfa, southeast of the country, “Maybe the electricity needed by Syria and Lebanon will be met initially by exporting it from Turkey, and of course we can see the picture more clearly after reviewing the situation in the transmission network.”
Possible cooperation
The ministry delegation – which arrived in Damascus on Saturday, according to previous statements by Bayraktar – is scheduled to discuss possible cooperation in the field of energy, including the transmission of electricity to compensate for part of its deficit.
He added that the installed electrical energy in Syria, with a capacity of 8,500 megawatts before the war, decreased to about 3,500 megawatts.
“The vast majority of individuals provide their electricity needs through generators, so there is a very urgent need for electricity,” he said, adding that the ministry’s team is looking into how to use Syria’s own resources of oil and natural gas.
Turkish President Recep Erdogan previously pledged that Ankara would do everything necessary to rebuild Syria.
