Turkish Economy Minister Zafer Caglayan has slammed European Union’s (EU) pressures on Ankara to stop gold-for-gas trade with Iran, saying the EU’s demand would fall on “deaf ears.”
“The EU has decided on sanctions…. Another’s sanctions don’t concern me,” Caglayan said on Friday in Istanbul.
According to the Turkish Weekly, Ankara imports 8-12 billion cubic meters of gas annually — around 20 percent of its total natural gas — from Iran.
Caglayan emphasized that pressure on Turkey to stop trading with Iran would fall on deaf ears.
On December 26, Turkish Energy Minister Taner Yildiz said his country will keep buying natural gas from Iran regardless of the Western sanctions against the Islamic Republic.
Caglayan said on December 11 that Turkey’s total trade volume with Iran has hit around USD45 billion dollars so far this year.
The United States, Israel and some of their allies accuse Iran of pursuing non-civilian objectives in its nuclear energy program with Washington and the European Union using this false claim to impose illegal unilateral sanctions against the Islamic Republic.
Iran refutes the allegation and argues that as a signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty and a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency, it is entitled to develop nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.
MYA/SS
via PressTV – Turkey economy minister slams EU sanctions on Iran.