Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan warned Russia on October 8 that there were other places his country could get natural gas and other countries that could build its first nuclear plant, reported Reuters.

This was in response to Russian incursions into Turkish air space during its air campaign in Syria.

“We can’t accept the current situation. Russia’s explanations on the air space violations are not convincing,” the Turkish daily Sabah and others quoted Erdogan as telling reporters.

“These are matters for Russia to think about. If the Russians don’t build the Akkuyu (nuclear plant in southern Turkey) another will come and build it,” he said, adding that “We are Russia’s number one natural gas consumer. Losing Turkey would be a serious loss for Russia. If necessary, Turkey can get its natural gas from many different places”.

According to Al-Arabia in 2013 Turkey commissioned Rosatom to build four 1,200-megawatt nuclear reactors, Turkey’s first nuclear power plant project.

Around 28-30 bcm of Turkey’s 50 bcm annual natural gas needs are met by Russia.