"Sanctions? We don't know of any sanctions" Turkey says received no new US request to cut Iran oil imports.

"Sanctions? We don't know of any sanctions" Turkey says received no new US request to cut Iran oil imports.(TI).Turkey has not received any new request from the United States to reduce the level of its crude oil purchases from Iran and its existing level of imports is continuing, Turkish Energy Minister Taner Yildiz told Reuters on Wednesday. In June, Washington exempted Turkey, along with six other countries, from its financial sanctions on Iran's oil trade for six months in return for a 20 percent cut in Ankara's purchases. Last week, the U.S. Senate approved expanded sanctions on global trade with Iran's energy and shipping sectors as it continued to ratchet up economic pressure on Tehran over its nuclear programme. Washington says Tehran is enriching uranium to levels that could be used in nuclear weapons. Iran says the programme is for peaceful purposes. The new package kept in place exemptions for countries including Turkey that have made significant cuts to their purchases of Iranian crude oil. "There is no new demand from the USA to reduce the amount of crude oil which we get from Iran," Yildiz told Reuters. "Whatever the current process is for purchasing crude oil from Iran, we are continuing that in the same way," he said. Official trade data last month showed Turkey's crude oil imports from Iran fell more than 30 percent to 75,281 barrels per day (bpd) in October from September, as substitute oil from other suppliers including Iraq and Saudi Arabia rose. Imports from the Islamic Republic, which was once supplying more than 60 percent of Turkey's crude oil requirements, came third in October behind Iraq and Russia. The new U.S. sanctions also included measures aimed at stopping the flow of gold from Turkey to Iran.Hmmmm....When will Congress grow a pair and stop this?Turkey is Iran's 'lifeline'.Read the full story here.

Related: As expected Obama will give BFF Turkey a waiver from sanctions, they 'only' import 45 percent of their oil from Iran and aid Iran avoiding sanctions.

Related - "Sanctions That Benefit" - Obama's BFF Erdogan's Turkey their gold imports jump by 150 pct in May.(HD).Turkish gold imports leapt by 150 percent in May due to unrelenting demand from sanctions-strapped Iran, where buyers are increasingly choosing to keep savings in the precious metal rather than paper currency. Turkey has imported 19.47 tons of gold in May, up from 7.78 tons in April, according to data released by the Istanbul Gold Exchange. Some of the increase was also attributable to the onset of the wedding season and regional tensions related to the 14-month-old uprising in neighboring Syria. But export data released a day earlier showed Iranian buying from Turkish gold traders has been the crucial factor. Sanctions to force Iran to curb its nuclear programme have targeted its energy and banking sectors and new measures from both the United States and European Union take effect in July, The sanctions have made neighboring Turkey an ever more important channel for the Islamic republic. Gökhan Aksu, vice president of Istanbul Gold Refinery, suspected Iran was seeking to hold some of its oil revenues in gold, while ordinary Iranians sought a safer asset as the rial currency was losing value and access to foreign currency was being choked off by the Western sanctions. “Iran needs to employ its resources coming from oil exports,” Aksu said. “They also have problems such as embargoes and the depreciation of the rial.” Foreign trade data showed Turkey earned $1.27 billion from exports of 23.9 tons of gold in April, dwarfing the $75.4 million earned from sales of 1.65 tons last year. Some 95 percent of the total gold exports went to Iran in April.Hmmmm.....Turkish gold sales to Iran in March soared over 30 times.Read the full story here.

Update: U.S. exempts seven countries that consume Iran oil from sanctions.
Obama administration officials didn't say how much the seven countries had cut their oil purchases. In March, U.S. officials signaled that they were seeking reductions of 15% to 22% of purchases.

Several large countries, including India and Turkey, said publicly that they were reluctant to reduce imports of Iranian oil because of their long reliance on the Islamic regime. They appear to have met the minimum level of cooperation that Washington demanded, however.How Much did Turkey actually 'reduce' it's inports??

Answer:
Before May, Turkey was the only buyer in Europe to increase purchases from Iran, while other European refiners cut back on imports of the crude ahead of an impending EU oil embargo due to take effect from July 1.In the first four months of 2012, Turkey imported 210,000 barrels per day of Iranian oil on average, including a huge 270,000 bpd in March, much higher than its 2011 average of 185,000 bpd.

In May Turkey's state-controlled refining company, Tupras, imported around 140,000 barrels per day (bpd), a 20 percent drop from its 2011 average, according to the latest shipping data, obtained by Reuters. Port data showed 152,000 tonnes of Iranian crude was delivered to the port of Aliaga in May, while 443,000 tonnes of Iranian crude was delivered to its second import terminal, Tutunciflik. Tupras is expected to import the same volume in June.
From July 1, Turkey will remain effectively the sole buyer of Iranian crude in Europe. Official trade data showed that in the first four months of this year, Iran accounted for about 58 percent of Turkey's near 6 million tonnes in total crude imports.
THIS REDUCTION IS A PURE SMOKESCREEN APPROVED BY THE OBAMA ADMIN!