Earlier, Erdogan said that on April 27 nuclear fuel will be supplied to to the Akkuyu NPP in Mersin. He did not rule out that Russian President Vladimir Putin would take part in the ceremony. From the moment of fresh nuclear fuel delivery, the Akkuyu NPP will become a nuclear facility, and Turkiye will become a country with nuclear power industry, the Akkuyu Nuclear design company told Sputnik earlier.
"We have four power units [at Akkuyu]. On April 27, we will open one, load fuel, but this is not enough for us, we plan to launch three more power units after that within five years. We are forced to do this. There is an energy crisis in the world now," Erdogan said in an interview with A Haber TV.
"Germany first decided to close the NPP; I told German Chancellor Scholz: 'You are making a mistake. He said: 'Europe wants it that way.' Now Germany has returned to nuclear power industry, has begun to use coal. We will not find ourselves in such a situation," he said.
Erdogan earlier said the opposition is playing into the hands of the West, declaring its intention to revise the Akkuyu NPP project and state investments in the defense industry.
In its election manifesto in January, an alliance of six Turkish opposition parties said it intended to "review the current state of the Akkuyu NPP project and relevant details, as well as rights or obligations that have arisen outside the plant agreement."
Russia is taking part in the construction of the Akkuyu NPP, which began in April 2018. It will be the first nuclear power plant in Turkiye. The plant, which will be equipped with advanced Russian VVER-1200 reactors, is expected to generate about 35 billion kilowatt-hours per year and cover up to 10% of Turkiye's electricity needs. The project is estimated to cost about $20 billion.