ANKARA - Turkish Energy & Natural Resources Minister Hilmi Guler said on Tuesday, ''Turkey has taken momentous steps to form a competitive and liberal market in energy. As a result, we have handed over the energy market of 40 billion U.S. dollars to an independent board.''
The International Energy Agency (IEA) released its report on Turkey.
Speaking at a meeting held to promote the report, Guler said that the Turkish government targeted to provide supply security and resource diversity in the energy sector.
''We have made a series of legal arrangements to this end. Now, we have concentrated on privatization. Also, we have made important decisions to protect consumer rights,'' Guler added.
Meanwhile, IEA Executive Director Claude Mandil said that Turkey had made a considerable progress in energy safety, economic productivity and protection of environment.
-IEA REPORT-
The report of IEA read, ''recently, Turkey has taken steps to implement energy market reforms which have resulted in clear and significant benefits. Now, continued action is needed to see the process through to a successful conclusion. It is necessary to restructure the state-owned enterprises to operate in a competitive market, to create independent electricity and gas operators and to remove cross-subsidies from electricity and gas prices.''
Turkey has been very active in international co-operation in the energy sector. Some important oil and gas pipeline projects are underway or almost completed. This will improve the security of supply in Turkey and maintain its role as an important 'energy corridor' between East and West, while avoiding overuse of the Turkish Straits. Synchronization of Turkey's electricity network with the European UCTE grid is planned for 2006. Furthermore, the country already has transposed most EU energy laws and standards into national legislation.
Turkey's general approach to energy policy has been highly supply-oriented. However, recent efforts have begun to focus more on energy efficiency and conservation. Nevertheless, stronger energy efficiency policies are needed, particularly in the transport sector.
Turkey ratified the Framework Convention on Climate Change in February 2004 and is developing its climate change strategy. The government should strive to monitor the cost-effectiveness of its policies, consider defining an emissions target and ensure coordination among the various government bodies. Despite past progress, work remains to be done to achieve further reductions in air pollution.''