Turkey plans to export about 900 megawatts of electricity to Syria by the first quarter of 2026 as part of its plans to help boost the latter's rebounding economy, the Turkish minister of energy and natural resources has said.
Syria's northern territory is already receiving nearly 300MW of power from its neighbour and the "first step over the next few weeks" is to raise this to 360MW, Alparslan Bayraktar said in an interview with Sky News Arabia on Tuesday.
The "ultimate goal" is to increase the capacity available from Birecik in Turkey to Aleppo by an additional 500MW over the next few months, he said.
"There are things needed to be done in the Syrian territory for this interconnection but beginning in the first quarter of 2026 ... we will be able to supply almost 900MW of direct electricity exports to Syria," he added.
Turkey is positioning itself to be a key ally of Syria, which is emerging from a years-long economic struggle underpinned by a costly civil war.
After the regime of Bashar Al Assad was toppled in December, the situation in Syria has been improving, with western sanctions lifted this year. Gulf states, including the UAE, are moving quickly to invest in Syria’s post-Assad future, offering diplomatic, financial and infrastructure support.
Last week, Turkey began the first deliveries of natural gas from Azerbaijan to Syria through the Turkish province of Kilis, part of a two-billion-cubic-feet-per-year pledge from Ankara in May.
"We are looking for reliable, long-term [power] supply for Syria," in addition to potash and potential liquefied natural gas supplies, Mr Bayraktar said.
Meanwhile, Turkey is optimistic it will be able to continue on with its half-century-old oil pipeline deal with Iraq following last month's move to end the partnership, the minister said.
The Kirkuk-Ceyhan oil pipeline, in place since 1975, will expire on July 27, 2026. Ankara announced an end to it on July 21, but it swiftly came up with a new proposal to establish a broader agreement that Iraq said it was considering.
Turkey wanted to "change one thing – to fully utilise" the 970km pipeline to allow the smoother flow of crude and help Iraq's economy, Mr Bayraktar said.
Iraq's oil "goes to global markets through the Gulf of Basra and Strait of Hormuz, and we have witnessed in the last few weeks when Israel attacked Iran, the blockage of the Strait of Hormuz might affect all these oil transport and exports", he said.
"I think it's also good for Iraq to diversify its export routes; Iraq has huge potential for production – Northern Iraq [especially] has huge potential."
