Fatih Dönmez

Turkey's Eti Maden Lithium Production Plant inaugurated in the country's central province of Eskişehir on Dec. 26 will help prevent annually $20 million lithium imports, Energy and Natural Resources Minister Fatih Dönmez said.

Turkey has discovered a major gold deposit holding an estimated 3.5 million ounces (99 tonnes) of the precious metal valued at around $6 billion, the Anadolu state news agency reported on Dec. 22. 

The find in the midwestern town of Sögüt was reported by Fahrettin Poyraz, who heads the Agricultural Credit Cooperatives of Turkey and the Gübretaş fertilizer production firm.

Turkey's Energy and Natural Resources Minister Fatih Dönmez on Dec. 16 launched a new Turkish-made dishwasher liquid detergent product, which will be marketed under the brand name BORON.

Turkey and Azerbaijan agreed to natural gas supplies from Turkey to the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic in a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Turkey's Energy and Natural Resources Minister Fatih Dönmez and Azerbaijan's Energy Minister Parviz Shahbazov on Dec. 15.

The construction works for the first nuclear power plant of Turkey is continuing as planned and its first unit will start operations in 2023, Energy and Natural Resources Minister Fatih Dönmez has said.

"In Akkuyu, things are running as planned," Dönmez said during a webinar organized by Sabancı Üniversity's Istanbul International Center for Energy and Climate (IICEC) yesterday.

A Turkish research vessel sent by Ankara to conduct survey for energy resources south of the island of Kastellorizo was sailing outside of Greece's territorial waters, the Hellenic Navy General Staff (HNGS) said on Wednesday evening.

The ship is sailing northeast at a speed of 4 knots at the border of the Ankara's illegal maritime notice (Navtex).

Turkey plans to lay two cables, totaling 1,750 km in length, for seismic research for energy resources in the Mediterranean Sea by August 23, the country's Energy Minister Fatih Donmez tweeted on Wednesday.

Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar on Aug. 12 said that Turkey wants to resolve the dispute in the eastern Mediterranean with Greece through dialogue.

"Despite all this, we want to believe that common sense will prevail. Both on the field and at the table, we side with international law, good neighbourliness and dialogue," Akar told Reuters.

Turkey is "determined" to use its sovereign rights in the eastern Mediterranean, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hami Aksoy said on June 2 after the Greek foreign minister said a Turkish attempt to start drilling for hydrocarbons in the eastern Mediterranean was "a new provocation."

Turkey's first drillship, Fatih, set sail from Istanbul's Haydarpaşa Port for a drilling mission in the Black Sea, Turkey's Energy and Natural Resources Minister Fatih Dönmez said on May 29.