Azerbaijan says will export gas to Syria amid energy woes

Azerbaijan will send its gas to Syria in a bid to address the country's energy shortages, Baku said Saturday as President Ilham Aliyev hosted Syria's new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa.

Syria's Islamist authorities, who toppled Bashar al-Assad in December, are seeking to rebuild the country's infrastructure and economy after almost 14 years of civil war.

The conflict badly damaged Syria's power infrastructure, leading to cuts that can last for more than 20 hours a day.

On Saturday, Ahmed al-Sharaa visited Azerbaijan and held talks with Aliyev, the Azerbaijani presidency said.

"The importance of cooperation between our countries, particularly in the energy sector, was highlighted at the meeting, and it was reported that Syria is currently facing a serious energy problem," the presidency said in a statement.

"A project to export Azerbaijani gas to Syria via Türkiye will be implemented in the near future, which will contribute to ensuring the energy security of this country," the statement added.

In May, Syrian Energy Minister Mohammad al-Bashir said Damascus and Ankara had reached a deal for Türkiye to supply natural gas to the war-torn country via a pipeline in the north.

Gas-rich Azerbaijan is a historic ally of Türkiye which maintains close ties with the Syrian transitional government.

Ilham Aliyev has regularly aligned himself with Türkiye's positions on international issues, including Syria.