TEHRAN - The Turkish ambassador to Iran has said that the decision to reduce Iranian oil imports was taken by the private sector and is not related to political relations between the two countries.
"The Turkish economy is run by the private sector. So, the decision to cut Iranian oil imports is not related to the government. It is just an economic issue and has nothing to do with politics," Umit Yardim told IRNA news agency.
He emphasized that Turkey is been opposing economic sanctions against Iran.
One day after the U.S. ambassador to Ankara called on Turkey to reduce Iranian oil imports, the country's energy minister announced that oil purchases from neighboring Iran will be cut by 20 percent.
On March 30, Taner Yildiz told reporters in Ankara that Turkey has plans to purchase one million tons of crude oil from Libya through the Turkish Petroleum Refineries Corporation (Tupras) to make up for Iranian oil shortfall, the Associated Press reported.
Turkish Economy Minister Zafer Caglayan said on Tuesday that his country's exports to Iran have fallen 20 percent this year and the cost of imported oil has soared after sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program, Bloomberg reported.
The economic cost "is borne by Turkey," not just by Iran, Caglayan told reporters in Washington. "Other countries pay the price of sanctions, too."
The price of oil has risen as efforts to restrict Iran's oil exports have fueled global insecurity over energy supplies. Turkey paid $54 billion for energy imports last year, a 40 percent increase over 2010, he said.
Turkey was the sixth-largest importer of Iranian crude during the first half of 2011, buying 182,000 barrels a day, according to the U.S. Energy Department. In that period, Turkey accounted for seven percent of Iran's oil exports, according to the U.S. data.
The five biggest importers were China, Japan, India, South Korea and Italy. Iran is the second-largest oil producer within OPEC after Saudi Arabia.
Caglayan said Turkey isn't bound by unilateral U.S. sanctions but it must abide by United Nations sanctions. He and Namik Tan, the Turkish ambassador to Washington, said Ankara nonetheless has decided to cut its oil imports from Iran by 20 percent this year in response to U.S. sanctions.
Under a U.S. law enacted Dec. 31, Iran's oil buyers have until June 28 to assure the State Department that they will "significantly reduce" their dependence on Iranian imports.
© Tehran Times 2012
