Turkey's energy and natural resources minister said on Thursday that the decision the United States and the European Union (EU) made among themselves regarding sanctions on Iran were not legally binding for Turkey.

Taner Yildiz said only United Nations (UN) resolutions and rules would bind Turkey.

"Sanctions the United States and the EU impose among themselves on Iran do not legally bind us," Yildiz told AA correspondent in an exclusive interview in Kiev, Ukraine.

Yildiz said he, personally, did not believe that the Nabucco project was over and the EU needed 700 billion cubic meters of natural gas by 2030.

"Even if Nabucco, which is on the South Stream and South corridor, Trans-Anatolia Pipeline (a planned pipeline to carry Azerbaijani gas to European markets), Interconnector Turkey-Greece-Italy (a European gas infrastructure which will enable to open the so called "Southern Gas Corridor" by connecting the Caspian and Middle East areas) and Trans-Adriatic pipeline (a natural gas pipeline project starting in Greece, crossing Albania and the Adriatic Sea and coming ashore in southern Italy, allowing gas to flow directly from the Caspian region to European markets)projects are all implemented, this need is not totally met," Yildiz said.

Nabucco is the new gas bridge from Asia to Europe and the flagship project in the Southern Corridor. It will be a pipeline to connect the world's richest gas regions - the Caspian region and Middle East - to the European consumer markets. The pipeline will link the Eastern border of Turkey, to Baumgarten in Austria - one of the most important gas turntables in Central Europe - via Bulgaria, Romania and Hungary. When completed the 3,900 km pipeline-s annual capacity will be 31 bcm.

South Stream is a proposed gas pipeline to transport Russian natural gas to the Black Sea to Bulgaria and further to Greece, Italy and Austria.

Yildiz said natural gas Turkey was purchasing today was more reasonable than that bought last year, adding that the number of natural gas consumer countries was more that source countries.