Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced that his country will hold a ceremony to bring fuel to the Akkuyu nuclear power plant on April 27, and that his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, will participate via videoconference.
“We will accelerate Turkey’s preparations for the construction of the second nuclear power plant in the new phase,” Erdogan said in an interview with the Turkish channel “TRT” on Tuesday evening.
He added in this regard: “We have held talks with China and South Korea (regarding the second nuclear power plant) and as a result we will take steps with the agreement that we will conclude.”
-Advertisement-
And he added, “We will hold a ceremony to bring the fuel to the Akkuyu nuclear power plant on April 27, where Mr. Putin will participate by videoconference.”
“Within a year, fuel preparation, testing, calibration and provisional production will be carried out, and I hope the first unit will start producing electricity,” the Turkish president stated.
He pointed out that the Akkuyu nuclear plant will provide Turkey with an amount of 6.5 billion dollars, and that Turkey will need to import 7 billion cubic meters of natural gas.
Regarding the extraction of natural gas from the Black Sea, Erdogan said that Turkey will produce its needs and will be an exporting country to other countries during the coming period.
He continued, “We will produce 40 million cubic meters of Black Sea gas in the first phase, and upon completion of the second phase, the gas used in homes throughout Turkey will be our national production.”
And the Turkish president added, “We aim to make the Istanbul Financial Center (which opened on Monday) among the 10 best centers in the world within 10 years.”
And he indicated that the Istanbul financial center will also contribute to boosting Turkish exports and will bring more foreign investments to the country.
-Advertisement-
He touched on the inauguration of the warship “TCG Anadolu”, which is the largest in Turkey, and indicated that it is currently moored in the port of Sarayburnu in Istanbul to introduce citizens to it.
He stated that the ship’s crew includes more than 1,300 people, and it will sail in the seas to show the power of the Turks to the whole world.
He revealed that Turkey will not be satisfied with this amount and that it is currently in talks with other countries, including Spain and Britain, to build another ship twice the size of the “TCG Anadolu”.
He stressed the need to strengthen Turkey’s naval power more than it is today by increasing the size of the aircraft carrier.
Last Monday, the “TCG Anadolu” ship entered service with the Turkish army, with a ceremony attended by President Erdogan.
The length of the ship is 231 meters, its width is 32 meters, the maximum load is 27 thousand tons and 436 kilograms, and its maximum speed is 20.5 knots, while the economic speed is 16 knots.
The ship can carry 13 tanks, 27 armored amphibious vehicles, 6 troop carriers, 33 military vehicles and 15 trailers, a total of 94 vehicles.
On its roof, 10 helicopters and 11 attack drones can be accommodated, while its hangar can carry 19 helicopters or 30 attack drones, in addition to accommodating a crew of 1,223 people.
