On February 14-15, Turkey will hold a gas summit, which will bring together gas supplying countries and European consuming countries in Istanbul, Turkish Energy Minister Fatih Donmez said on Monday. This is reported by the Reuters agency.

 "We will unite supplier countries from the Middle East, the Mediterranean, the Caspian Sea and Central Asia with consumer countries in Europe," Donmez said.

 According to Donmez, Turkey has the infrastructure and experience in gas trading, and the authorities are taking steps to make the country a center where regional reference prices are set.

 "Our goal is to unite supplier countries and consumer countries and become a gas trading center where the reference price for gas is set," Donmez said after a separate announcement of a 10-year gas deal with Oman.

 Oil and gas-poor Turkey is heavily dependent on gas imports from Russia, Azerbaijan and Iran, as well as LNG imports from Qatar, the US, Nigeria and Algeria.

 In October, President Putin proposed the creation of a gas hub in Turkey after explosions damaged Russia's Nord Stream gas pipeline under the Baltic Sea.