Turks urged to use EU gas crisis for own benefit

A million EU citizens will spend the winter in Turkey amid the looming energy crisis in their countries, Yigit Bulut, the chief adviser to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has claimed, calling on his compatriots to use the situation to their benefit. 

Taking to Twitter last weekend, Bulut said that “at least 1 million EU citizens, whose gas was cut off, took action to spend this winter in Turkey.” 

As hotels in major Turkish cities, such as Istanbul, Izmir, and Antalya, will be full this winter, the presidential advisor explained, Europeans will be busy buying or renting houses. Therefore, he called on Turks to make use of a situation that, in his opinion, is a manifestation of “divine justice.” 

“Do not sell too cheap, they are in need!” Bulut said. 

His remarks came as many European countries are preparing for what the EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs Josep Borrell described as “a perfect storm.” 

Energy prices and bills have been skyrocketing amid Moscow’s military operation in Ukraine and Western sanctions against Russia. A recent announcement by the Russian energy giant Gazprom that Nord Stream 1, a key gas route from Russia to the EU, would remain shut indefinitely due to sanctions-related maintenance problems drove wholesale gas prices up even further. The looming crisis has prompted many European governments to take emergency measures to cut energy consumption and to warn populations of a difficult winter ahead. 

Turkey, which has adopted a neutral position on the Ukraine conflict, has made it clear that it would continue to rely on natural gas from Russia.