The head of the Turkish Foreign Ministry called for the lifting of sanctions from Iran and Venezuela to overcome the energy crisis

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu stated that the lifting of Western sanctions, particularly from Iran and Venezuela, will ease the global energy crisis caused by Russiaʼs war in Ukraine.

Al Arabiya writes about it.

"The whole world needs oil and natural gas from Venezuela... On the other hand, there is an embargo on Iranian oil. Remove these sanctions... if you want prices to fall, remove the embargo from the countries that will be offering their products on the market,” he noted.

According to Çavuşoğlu, restrictions do not help solve problems.

• Venezuela was hit by the U.S. oil sanctions in 2019, and Iran is under the U.S. sanctions.
• Turkey has not imposed sanctions against Russia, saying that it remains dependent on Russian energy sources. During the meeting in Sochi, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan agreed on partial payment of Russian gas in rubles.
• According to The Washington Post, Russia has turned to Turkey for help in circumventing sanctions imposed against it because of the war in Ukraine. They hope that Turkey will agree to proposals that will help it avoid sanctions restrictions in the banking, energy and industrial sectors. The proposal calls for Erdoganʼs government to allow Russia to buy stakes in Turkish refineries, oil terminals and storage facilities, a move that economists say could help hide the origin of exports after the European Unionʼs oil embargo takes full effect next year.
• In August, the Financial Times newspaper, citing its own sources, wrote that the European Union is discussing the possibility of introducing sanctions against Turkey if it helps Russia circumvent Western restrictions.
• According to Bloomberg, in early October, the Turkish state energy importer Boru Hatlari ile Petrol Tasima AS asked Russia to postpone part of the payments until 2024.