www.worldbulletin.net - Turkey’s largest oil refinery in Tüpraş relies on Iranian crude oil, and has been refreshing agreements with Iran for decades. - Diplomatic sources have announced that Ankara will not be affected by the new set of sanctions on Iran, announced by the EU to cut all imports of Iranian crude oil to the EU bloc, on the grounds that Turkey will follow only UN-led sanctions.
“Turkey in principle feels bound only by UN Security Council sanctions against third countries,” diplomatic sources told Cihan on Monday, shortly after the EU governments agreed that they would ban all new contracts to purchase oil from Tehran. (source)
On Monday the EU decided that it would block all imports of Iranian crude, but allowed for members with existing contracts to look for alternative sources until July 1. Turkey by principle remains outside non-UN sanctions against Iran, not convinced by the argument from the West that Iran is hostile against the West, and it is enriching uranium for the production of nuclear warheads in preparation for an attack. Turkey does not have a nuclear weapons program but seeks to build two nuclear power plants on its soil to meet its increasing need for energy, while it stands against nuclear proliferation for all Middle Eastern countries, not only Iran.
Turkey’s largest oil refinery in Tüpraş relies on Iranian crude oil, and has been refreshing agreements with Iran for decades.
