Azerbaijan, Baku, Jan.5 / Trend, A. Taghiyeva /
The EU sanctions against Iran will not affect the country's energy cooperation with the Turkish petroleum-refining company Tupras, Turkish Energy and Natural Resources Minister Taner Yildiz told journalists, Zaman newspaper reported on Thursday.
"The volume of oil imported from Iran by Tupras is maximum compared to shares of oil imports from other countries. The company will continue its cooperation with Iran," Yildiz said.
Earlier, in 2010, Tupras announced that it stops its activities in Iran's oil sector.
In 2010, Tupras bought 7.41 million tons of Iranian oil, which makes almost 38 percent of the oil processed in the amount of 19.6 million tons by the company last year.
Tupras was established in 1983 and is one of the largest in Europe. The company has four oil refineries, a petrochemical complex and provides about 85 percent of oil refining in Turkey.
The U.S., UK and Canada announced about imposing unilateral sanctions against Iran and the energy and financial sectors of the Iranian economy on Nov. 21, 2011. The French authorities proposed to impose new 'unprecedented' sanctions, including freezing of assets of the Central Bank of Iran, as well as to stop the purchase of Iranian oil.
The U.S., Israel and several Western countries suspect Iran of trying to develop nuclear weapons. The Iranian government says its nuclear programme is peaceful.