Turkish minister: Turkey will continue importing Iran oil

Turkish Energy and Natural Resources Minister Taner Yildiz said on Tuseday Turkey will continue importing oil from Iran. He was talking to reporters at a press conference with European Union Energy Commissioner Günther Oettinger on the sidelines of the 13th General Assembly Meeting of International Energy Forum in Kuwait. Yildiz said the US and EU ban against Iran oil did not apply to gas and gas development projects. He said Iran is Turkey's neighboring country and is providing it with more than half of its oil demands, therefore it cannot stop oil imports from a nearby country like Iran. Countries like Britain and France were importing only one or two percent of their oil needs from Iran, the minister said, reiterating that Turkey’s situation is apparently different from those countries. Underlying Iran-Turkey friendly and good neighborly relations, Yildiz said Tehran and Ankara have many important energy projects for negotiation.