Turkey Is Blackmailing Gazprom
1- 6.11.2026, 16:41
- 1,592
Ankara has threatened to reduce its purchases.
Ankara is prepared to buy less gas from Russia if Moscow does not lower its prices. This was stated on November 5 in Istanbul by Turkey’s Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Alparslan Bayraktar, according to The Moscow Times.
According to him, the shift toward American gas is not politically motivated but is driven solely by price: Russian gas, the minister said, is “extremely expensive.” However, Turkey does not plan to completely abandon it and will continue to seek more favorable terms.
Russia’s share of Turkey’s gas imports has declined significantly over the past two decades: from 64% in 2006 to approximately 37% in early 2025. According to Reuters calculations, compared to 2021 (before the war), Gazprom’s supplies to the country fell by nearly 20%: from 26.3 to 21.2 billion cubic meters in 2025. Azerbaijan accounts for about 22% of Turkey’s imports, while the U.S. accounts for nearly 16%. In 2025, Turkey purchased 9.19 billion cubic meters of U.S. liquefied natural gas and is also counting on long-term contracts with Cheniere Energy and ExxonMobil.
The price contrast among buyers of Russian pipeline gas is quite noticeable. According to Bloomberg, the projected price for China in 2026 is about $258 per thousand cubic meters, while Turkey and European countries pay about $420.
For Gazprom, the loss of Turkish customers would be yet another blow following the loss of most of the European market. In 2025, its supplies to Europe fell to 18 billion cubic meters, down from 148.4 billion in 2021—the lowest level since the mid-1970s. It is possible that supplies to the EU will cease entirely in 2027 due to the embargo.
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