Gas from the Mediterranean can only pass to Europe via Turkey

 Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said that gas from the Eastern Mediterranean fields can only be transported to Europe through Turkish territory. He made the statement to Turkish journalists on board the plane returning from Albania, commenting on the discussion about the expediency of the EastMed gas pipeline, TASS reports.

"This project is not feasible. They studied it and saw that there were no positive moments. Such work (gas supply from the region in Europe) cannot be done without Turkey. "If the gas from there goes to Europe, it can only happen through Turkey," Erdogan said.

 He recalled that the Turkish Ministry of Energy had previously maintained contacts with Israel on the topic of laying a similar gas pipeline from the Eastern Mediterranean to Europe through Turkish territory. "It simply came to our notice then. Is there any hope now? The conditions are being discussed because it is important to take interests into account here. "We are in contact with the Israeli president, the Israeli prime minister is talking about this at various levels," the Turkish leader said.

 On January 8th, the Greek news portal Defense-point.gr reported that the United States had notified Greece, Cyprus and Israel, which had agreed on future construction of the EastMed pipeline, that they did not support the project. According to the portal, this position of Washington is related to the decision to avoid conflicts with Erdogan until the elections in this country, which are scheduled for June 2023. Members of the project have not yet abandoned it, but say they may consider alternatives.