Turkey Explores Turkmen Gas Options After Iranian Supply Halt Due to Gulf Conflict

Turkey has lost its imports of Iranian natural gas due to the conflict in the Gulf, prompting the country to look to Turkmenistan to cover the gap in supplies. com reported that Ashgabat is prioritizing exports of natural gas to China, limiting immediate options for Turkey.

Turkish Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar spoke at an energy conference on April 24, 2026, where he repeated his call for urgent international discussions on reviving a long-debated, never-built trans-Caspian pipeline to carry Turkmen gas to Turkey and on to Europe.

“We believe it is absolutely necessary to realize a pipeline that will transport Turkmen natural gas from the Caspian Sea to Türkiye and from Türkiye to Europe,” Bayraktar said. Turkey imports over 80 percent of its natural gas, and the cost of these imports has risen by around 70 percent in 2026.

Iran supplied around 15 percent of Turkey’s natural gas needs prior to the stoppage, which occurred sometime in March 2026 as a result of the conflict in the Gulf.

Europe has faced a price hike of around 70 percent for natural gas in 2026, mirroring Turkey's challenges. 3 billion cubic meters of Turkmen gas to reach Turkey by the end of 2025. The previous Turkmen-Turkish-Iranian gas swap deal foundered last year after just three months.

Washington expanded its Iran sanctions regime last year to include gas swap deals, contributing to the arrangement's failure. A trans-Caspian pipeline has been discussed periodically since the late 1990s, but it has never been built despite periodic interest.

The European Union is pushing ahead with plans to halt its last Russian gas imports by November 2027, adding pressure to find alternative sources amid the current supply disruptions.