Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Tuesday that Turkey plans to expand nuclear cooperation with Russia to build more power plants. He made the remarks during a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in Kyrgyzstan, as reported by infohub.kz.
The deepening ties with Russia are likely to raise concerns among Western allies, who have been worried by Ankara's closeness to Moscow as the war in Ukraine rages. Russia's state corporation Rosatom is close to completing the Akkuyu nuclear power station on Turkey's Mediterranean coast. Its four reactors are expected to generate around 10% of Turkey's electricity when it comes online.
"The Akkuyu nuclear power plant is of great importance in Russia-Turkey relations. We are now in the final stages," Erdogan said as he sat next to Putin following a one-on-one meeting. He added that with Russia, Turkey "will take steps together to open some new power plants, along with the opening of the Akkuyu nuclear power plant." His remarks were reported by Turkey's state-run Anadolu agency.
Erdogan also described relations between the two countries as being "at a much more advanced level today than in any previous period." Putin, meanwhile, referred to Turkey as "one of our privileged partners."
Turkey is dependent on energy imports, with around 70% of its energy needs being met by foreign sources. According to United Nations international trade figures, Turkey's Russian imports were valued at $42.37 billion last year, with energy accounting for $29.8 billion.