ISTANBUL: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday warned Russia risked losing a deal to build Turkey’s first nuclear power plant and its status as the country’s main gas supplier, as a diplomatic row over the Russian intervention in Syria intensified.

Analysts said while the warning laid bare Erdogan’s rage over the Russian air bombardment on Syria and violation of Turkey’s airspace, breaking Turkish dependence on Kremlin energy supplies was a near impossible task.

Russia is building Turkey’s first nuclear power plant in Akkuyu on the shores of the Mediterranean, a controversial $20 billion project aimed at improving energy self-sufficiency.

“Losing Turkey would entail significant losses for Russia,” Erdogan was quoted telling reporters by media. “Others can build the Akkuyu plant if the Russians don’t,” he added. “Russia has already invested $3 billion in this project. In this case, it’s Russia who should act with more prudence.”

Energy resource-poor Turkey is also one of the top importers of Russian gas with gas giant Gazprom as the source of over half of Turkey’s energy imports. “We are a number one consumer of Russian natural gas. If necessary, Turkey can take its natural gas from many other different places,” Erdogan said.

“We are saddened that Russia is acting in a way that could provoke the loss” of its economic interests in Turkey, he added.