Turkey ready to supply power to Syria and Lebanon, energy minister says

By Nevzat Devranoglu

SANLIURFA, Turkey (Reuters) - Turkey is ready to supply electricity to Syria and Lebanon and a team of government officials is already in Syria working on how to resolve its energy issues, Turkish Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar said.

Turkey, which backed rebels in neighbouring Syria who toppled Bashar al-Assad this month after a 13-year civil war, has reopened its embassy in Damascus and already conducted high level contacts with new de-facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa.

"Maybe the electricity that Syria and Lebanon need will initially be met by exporting it from Turkey, and of course we can see the picture a little more after seeing the situation in the transmission network," Bayraktar told reporters in Turkey's southeastern city of Sanliurfa.

The ministry delegation arrived in Damascus on Saturday and, according to Bayraktar's previous comments, was going to discuss possible energy cooperation including transmitting electricity to ease power shortages.

He said Syria's pre-war installed power of 8,500 megawatts had fallen to some 3,500 megawatts.

"The vast majority of people meet their electricity needs with generators, so there is actually a very serious need for electricity," he said, adding that the ministry team was looking into how Syria's own oil and natural gas resources may be used.

President Tayyip Erdogan has said that Ankara would do whatever necessary for the reconstruction of Syria.

Turkey currently provides electricity to some parts of northern Syria where it has mounted four military operations since 2016.

(Reporting by Nevzat Devranoglu; Writing by Daren Butler; Editing by Jonathan Spicer)