Turkish President Erdogan blames the energy crisis on Europe’s ‘provocations’ against Russia
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Roshan Amiri
- . September 8, 2022
- . Update: September 23, 2022 3:46 pm
Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, on Wednesday, blamed the energy crisis on the West’s “provocations” against Russia. He said that the attitude taken by western countries was a mistake that caused the energy crisis in Europe.
He reportedly said that the West cannot get results through their provocative policies. He said, “Russia is not a country to be taken lightly. The West is making a mistake.” He further said that the European leaders should have thought about the energy crisis before going against Russia.
“Russia has cut the gas and now Europe is gloomy,” he said. The Turkish President also accused Europe of sending scraps to Ukraine as military aid amid the war.
Erdogan, who is on a state visit to Belgrade, also said, “No one is winning this war, but there are many losers.”
Last week, Russia largely stopped exporting gas to Europe. Russia said on Monday that Russian gas supplies to Europe will not resume until western sanctions against Moscow are lifted. Europe has been facing its biggest energy crisis in decades after supplies have come to a complete halt.
Moscow has claimed that sanctions are hitting its technical capabilities to repair pipelines like Nord Stream 1. Russia’s state-owned energy giant, Gazprom, halted all its exports via Nord Stream 1 from August 31.
The Russian authorities also said that economic sanctions imposed on it by the Western countries are responsible for the indefinite halt to gas supplies via Europe’s main pipeline.
European lawmakers have repeatedly accused Moscow of weaponising energy exports in an attempt to drive up commodity prices. The halt to supplies also prompted European gas prices to jump on Monday.
In July, Turkey also brokered a deal between Russia and Ukraine to transport the latter’s grain out of the country through the Black Sea.
