Turkey refuses to buy coal

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan declared that the country had to use only its own funds.

The President said: «As long as we can use renewable resources and coal reserves efficiently, we will be able to open new horizons for our country by closing our current account deficit».

He also added: «We have put forward two important steps on Nuclear plants. Akkuyu nuclear power plant will be launched by 2023, while works on another nuclear plant in Sinop is progressing at full speed».

Erdoğan also noted that "some forces" were attempting to block this decision. The main suppliers of coal in the world are the US and its satellites. In particular, Ukraine delivered coal for Turkey. Furthermore, coal exports to Turkey were the basis of the Ukrainian-Turkish relations.

Nevertheless, the rejection of imports and the transition to nuclear energy, against the background of the Paris climate agreement, could be considered as a genuine desire of independence from external factors.