Türkiye’s Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Alparslan Bayraktar (2nd right), Minister of the Economy of the Republic of Azerbaijan Mikayil Jabbarov (right), Syrian energy minister Mohammed al-Bashir (2nd Left) and Director General of Qatar Fund for Development (QFFD) Fahad Hamad Hassan Al-Sulait (L) during the Türkiye-Syria Natural gas pipeline opening and the commencement of the gas supply by Azerbaijan to Syria ceremony in Kilis, Türkiye on August 2, 2025. Photo: Turkish Energy Ministry Handout via AFP
Türkiye on Saturday (August 2, 2025) turned on a supply of natural gas from Azerbaijan to Syria, whose infrastructure was ravaged by civil war, with annual deliveries expected to reach up to two billion cubic metres.
Syria’s Islamist authorities, who toppled Bashar al-Assad in December, are seeking to rebuild the battered country where power cuts can last for more than 20 hours a day.
Speaking at a ceremony attended by Syria’s energy minister, Azerbaijan’s Economy Minister and the head of Qatar’s development fund, Turkish Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar said the initiative would help normalise Syria.
“In the initial phase, up to two billion cubic metres of natural gas per year could be exported to Syria,” Mr. Bayraktar said at the ceremony in the southern province of Kilis near the Syrian border.
Damascus has said the gas would be used to generate electricity.
“The gas will help activate a power plant with a capacity of around 1,200 megawatts, meeting the electricity needs of approximately five million households,” Mr. Bayraktar said.
“We will transport natural gas to Aleppo and from Aleppo to Homs. This will enable the power plants there to be put into operation in the near future,” he added.
A first phase of the Qatari scheme to fund gas supplies for power generation in Syria rolled out in March via Jordan and provided 400 megawatts of electricity per day.
Published – August 02, 2025 11:49 pm IST
