Presidents of Russia and Turkey Vladimir Putin and Recep Tayyip Erdoğan attend the ceremony of delivering the first batch of nuclear fuel for the first power unit to the Akkuyu NPP site via video conference. Rafael Grossi, Director-General of the IAEA, Alexei Likhachev, President of Rosatom, and Fatih Dönmez, Minister of Energy of Turkey, are personally present at the event.
In his speech, Putin described the nuclear power plant as the most important joint project between Moscow and Ankara.
“This is a flagship project, providing mutual economic benefits and, of course, helping to strengthen the multifaceted partnership between our states.”
noted.
Putin also said that Russia will continue to supply natural gas to Turkey, but will reduce the supply accordingly, with the introduction of Akkuyu. After that, Putin noted that gas could be directed to third countries through the Turkish gas centre. The launch of the station is scheduled for late 2023 – early 2024.
Of course, after Akkuyu works at full capacity, we will supply less natural gas to Turkey. This is an expensive product today and will only increase in price. We are also determined to intensify cooperation on gas supply to third countries,” he said.
In addition, Alexei Likhachev, the general manager of Rosatom, gave a nuclear fuel delivery certificate to Akkuyu to the head of the Turkish Ministry of Energy, Fatih Dönmez, and Putin allowed it. After that, Akkuyu NPP became a de facto nuclear facility and Turkey joined the club of countries with nuclear energy.
Before the ceremony, Putin and Erdogan held a telephone conversation. According to Putin, they have reached a number of fundamentally important joint agreements on increasing the supply of agricultural products, primarily in economy and trade.
The Russian President also noted that “it would be difficult to talk about success” in the relations between the two countries without his Turkish counterpart. In addition, Putin wished him a speedy recovery amid reports of Erdogan’s health problems.
On the evening of April 25, Erdogan felt unwell during a live interview with local TV channels, later said that his health was due to stomach flu. The next day, all public events with his participation were canceled. On the 26th, Turkish media reported that Erdogan had a heart attack, and his family was also asked to come to the hospital. However, Turkish officials denied this information, saying that Erdogan is “strong, full of energy and will rule the country longer”.
At the ceremony held in Akkuyu, Erdogan said that Turkey has joined the club of countries with nuclear energy, albeit with a 60-year delay.
The Turkish leader’s office reported that Erdogan thanked Putin during a phone call for his contribution to the construction of Akkuyu. The ministry also reported that the leaders of the countries discussed the situation in Ukraine, the grain agreement, Syria and the creation of a working group to resolve the situation in Ukraine by phone. The office noted in particular that the Turkish president told Putin about the opportunity to work on new proposals for the Black Sea food initiative.
“President Erdogan said that new initiatives could emerge within the framework of the proposed working group.”
– reported in the department.
Speaking at the ceremony, IAEA President Rafael Grossi said that Akkuyu nuclear power plant will produce nuclear energy even 100 years after its launch. He also noted that Akkuyu has all the components that can be called the safest nuclear power plant in the world.
I saw Akkuyu NPP and it is a great success, IAEA supports the project.”
Letter of Opposition
The previous day, amid reports of Erdogan’s deteriorating health, his main rival in the upcoming elections, Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, sent a message to the Russian expert community that a change of power would not harm bilateral cooperation in Turkey. About Kılıçdaroğlu’s objection knowledgeable “Kommersant”. In his pre-election message, the politician acknowledged that relations between the two countries have always faced difficulties, but they managed to overcome them and continue to respect each other. He said Ankara is interested in establishing healthy relations with Moscow. He also noted that his political alliance found “anti-Russian approaches in the world” to be wrong.
“In the short term, our political priority will be to end the conflict in Ukraine and ensure the secure continuation of the Black Sea Grain Initiative agreement. We will also continue to assist in closing the differences between our two neighbors (Russian Federation and Ukraine. – Kommersant).