Ankara (TDI): Turkiye will begin exporting natural gas to Syria this weekend as part of a deal aimed at helping the war-ravaged country rebuild its shattered infrastructure, Turkish Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar announced on Wednesday.
The gas, sourced from Azerbaijan, is expected to start flowing into Aleppo on Saturday, August 2, through a pipeline that runs via Kilis, a Turkish province bordering northern Syria.
The move comes as Syria’s transitional authorities, who took control after ousting President Bashar al-Assad in December, seek to revive basic services and stabilize the economy after more than a decade of civil war.
Years of fighting have devastated Syria’s power grid, leaving large parts of the population with daily electricity outages lasting up to 20 hours.
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In May, Syrian Energy Minister Mohammad Al-Bashir confirmed that Damascus and Ankara had finalized an agreement for Turkiye to provide natural gas through existing infrastructure in the north.
The supply is expected to alleviate some of the pressure on Syria’s struggling power sector.
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Azerbaijan, which is rich in natural gas reserves, is a long-time ally of Turkiye and has also signaled support for Syria’s new transitional administration.
The gas export deal marks a notable shift in regional dynamics, signaling deeper cooperation between Ankara and the post-Assad Syrian leadership.
Farkhund Yousafzai is an Associate Editor at The Diplomatic Insight.
