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Turkey links possible French nuclear bid to EU accession deal

David O'Byrne | Platts

Turkey is interested in a possible bid from a French consortium to build the country's second planned nuclear power plant, but the success of any bid may be affected by France's continuing opposition to Turkey's EU accession, a spokesman for Turkey's energy ministry told Platts late Tuesday.

The spokesman said that the warning had been made by Turkish energy minister Taner Yildiz in response to a question during a press conference Monday where he confirmed that under an agreement with Japan Turkey was engaged in exclusive talks with Japanese companies until the end of March.

"If that exclusivity agreement ends with no further agreement then we'll be open to bids from French companies," the spokesman said.

"However, irrespective of how good any bids are they may be rejected if France continues its opposition to Turkey joining the EU," he added.

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