Syria has stopped buying electricity from Turkey: minister

Syria has stopped purchasing electricity from neighbouring Turkey, Turkish Energy Minister Taner Yildiz said on Thursday, with an official stating the move was due to damage to Syrian infrastructure.

"Syria halted their power purchases from Turkey one week ago," Yildiz said, adding however that Turkey was ready to resume supplies if a request was received.

Yasar Arslan, deputy head of the Turkish supplier Aksa, said it was due to the "destruction of the Syrian power distribution system", in remarks carried by the Anatolia news agency.

"Our sales will resume once the problem is solved. We are ready to provide them with power supplies whenever they want," he said.

Syria renewed a one-year contract with Aksa company last month, noted the official.

Turkey had been providing 20 percent of Syria's power supply.

A senior energy official added that the decision had nothing to do with Turkey.

"That was their own preference," the official told AFP on condition of anonymity.

Yildiz said if Syria preferred to import electricity from Turkey, "this door remains open".

Ankara warned Damascus in June it was considering cutting power to northern Syria after one of its fighter jets was shot down by Syrian fire.

Turkey and Syria were once close political allies but Ankara has become a vocal critic of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his regime since the launch of a brutal crackdown on dissent in March last year.

In November, Turkey halted joint oil exploration with its neighbour and also threatened then to cut electricity supplies.

fo/har