ANKARA - The energy sector was not part of Turkish sanctions against Syria amid the ongoing political tensions, Turkish Energy and Natural Resources Minister Taner Yildiz said Tuesday.

In an interview with the private Haberturk TV, Yildiz said that a multilateral cooperated natural gas pipeline project connecting Turkey, Syria, Iraq, Egypt, Jordan and Lebanon will continue.

Yildiz's remarks referred to the Arab Gas Pipeline, a natural gas pipeline exporting Egyptian natural gas to Syria, Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey, with a separate line to Israel. The project covers a total pipeline length of 1,200 km with a total investment of $1.2 billion.

According to the plan, Turkey is expected to buy up to 4 billion cubic meters of gas per year from the Arab Gas Pipeline.

"At the present time, 4 billion cubic meters of natural gas comes from Egypt," said Yildiz.

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu announced last week a series of sanction measures against Syria, including the freezing of its government assets in Turkey, the blockade of weapons delivery through Turkey, a travel ban on Syrian leaders, and the suspension of relations between the Turkish and Syrian central banks.

Turkey, once a close ally of Syria, has gradually toughened its criticism of the Syrian administration for its crackdown on protests. Turkish leaders have on many occasions called on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to end the crackdown and step down.