Turkey Will Not Repeat Mistake Of EU Members That Suspended Their NPPs - Erdogan

ISTANBUL (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 30th March, 2023) Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Ankara will not repeat the mistake of EU members that suspended their nuclear power plants (NPPs) and then decided to restart them due to the energy crisis.

Earlier, Erdogan said that on April 27 nuclear fuel will be supplied to to the Akkuyu NPP in Mersin. He did not rule out that Russian President Vladimir Putin would take part in the ceremony. From the moment of fresh nuclear fuel delivery, the Akkuyu NPP will become a nuclear facility, and Turkey will become a country with nuclear power industry, the Akkuyu Nuclear design company told Sputnik earlier.

"We have four power units (at Akkuyu). On April 27, we will open one, load fuel, but this is not enough for us, we plan to launch three more power units after that within five years. We are forced to do this. There is an energy crisis in the world now," Erdogan said in an interview with A Haber tv.

"Germany first decided to close the NPP; I told German Chancellor Scholz: 'You are making a mistake. He said: 'Europe wants it that way.' Now Germany has returned to nuclear power industry, has begun to use coal. We will not find ourselves in such a situation," he said.