Moscow defends energy ties with Turkey

ANKARA, Turkey, Feb. 8 (UPI) -- The depth of the relationship between Ankara and Moscow in the energy sector is a matter for the Turkish government to decide, Russian officials said.

Turkey is one of the largest natural gas customers for Russian energy monopoly Gazprom, relying on Russian gas to meet more than 60 percent of its national demand.

Turkey, meanwhile, is positioning itself as a major transit nation for natural resources, hosting some of the largest oil and gas projects in the world. Ankara in 2009 agreed to host a portion of Russia's South Stream natural gas pipeline, and several other projects are in the works.

Critics complained Ankara is moving closer to becoming a client state for Russia's energy ambitions. Vladimir Ivanovskiy, the Russian envoy to Ankara, said that the level of cooperation with Moscow was up to the Turkish government, Turkey's English-language daily Hurriyet reports.

"Even some of my colleagues defend the thesis that Turkey's dependency on Russia for energy is rising, urging the country to consider its balances with Russia," he said. "This is completely up to Turkey."

Apart from South Stream, Moscow aims to build a nuclear power plant in Turkey and push ahead with the Samsun-Ceyhan oil pipeline.

"The rest is up to Turkey," said Ivanovskiy.