Turkey halts Turkmenistan gas imports via Iran under US pressure - Middle East Eye

Turkey had to stop gas imports from Turkmenistan through Iran due to US pressure, Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar revealed on Thursday during a briefing with journalists.

Ankara began receiving gas from Turkmenistan in March 2025 under a deal to supply 1.3 billion cubic metres annually using Iranian infrastructure.

Turkish gas importer Botas had an import licence for the arrangement until 2033.

Ashgabat cut the flow of gas in October 2025, at the time saying the two countries had a short-term contract and that, without an agreement on volumes or prices, it could not sell gas to Ankara.

Earlier this year, Bayraktar said gas imports from Turkmenistan via Iran would resume, but those plans did not materialise.

He has now revealed that the real problem was the US-Iran war, which started in February.

“We stopped because of the OFAC, (US Office of Foreign Assets Control), somehow involved in this,” he said.

“Although we were not paying anything to Iran, the situation escalated between Iran and the US.”

Bayraktar said Turkey has spare capacity in the Trans-Anatolian Gas Pipeline and could easily double the volume of gas exported to Europe.

He added that Azerbaijan’s gas reserves were slowly being depleted and that Turkmenistan’s “abundant” gas could offer a viable alternative to meet the needs of both European partners and the Turkish market.

Yet infrastructure challenges, including a dispute over exclusive economic zones in the Caspian Sea, make it harder to build a gas pipeline connecting Turkmenistan to Azerbaijan.

Turkey’s own gas contracts with Iran are expiring in November, and it remains unclear whether Ankara is ready to renew them.

US sanctions targeting Iran intensified earlier this year, forcing countries in the region to take action against Iranian businesses and the financial sector.