Turkey starts supplying Azerbaijani gas to boost Syria's power output

Turkey has started supplying natural gas from Azerbaijan to Syria, where infrastructure was severely damaged after 14 years of war. The annual supply is expected to reach 2 billion cubic meters.

Syria's new government, which overthrew the rule of Bashar al-Assad in December, is seeking to rebuild a country where much of the power grid is down for up to 20 hours a day.

Speaking at a ceremony attended by Syrian Energy Minister Mohammad al-Bashir, Azerbaijani Economy Minister Mikayil Jabbarov, and Qatar Fund for Development head Fahd Hamad Hassan al-Sulaiti, Turkish Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar said the initiative would help Syria return to normalcy.

"In the initial phase, up to 2 billion cubic meters of natural gas can be exported annually to Syria," Bayraktar said in the Turkish province of Kilis, near the Syrian border.

Damascus has announced that the gas will be used to generate electricity.

Bayraktar added, "The gas will help operate a power plant with a capacity of about 1,200 megawatts, meeting the needs of approximately five million households and contributing significantly to returning daily life in Syria to normal."

"We will transport natural gas to Aleppo, and from Aleppo to Homs. This will enable the power generation plants there to operate in the near future," he continued.

In May, an agreement was announced for Turkey to supply its neighbor with natural gas via a cross-border pipeline connecting Turkey's Kilis to Aleppo, with a flow capacity of 6 million cubic meters per day.

The first phase of a Qatari plan to finance gas supplies for electricity generation was implemented in March via Jordan, providing 400 megawatts of electricity per day.

Gas-rich Azerbaijan is a traditional ally of Turkey, which has close ties with Syria's transitional government.