ANKARA -- Türkiye's talks with China on building the country's third nuclear power plant have made progress, Turkish Energy and Natural Resources Minister Alparslan Bayraktar said on Thursday.

Bayraktar made the remarks at a round-table meeting with foreign journalists in the Turkish capital of Ankara.

"We have been in talks with a Chinese company for a very long time, and we are now at a stage where we need to finalize this in a few months," said the minister.

He said "enough negotiations" have been made "for some certain parts of the deal" on building the plant.

"We are quite close. There are some differences, but not major ones. So we are able to fill the gaps and strike a deal soon with China," explained Bayraktar.

Türkiye plans to build its third nuclear plant in the northwestern Thrace region, with works ongoing to determine the precise location.

Construction of four reactors for the country's first nuclear plant, inaugurated in April, is currently underway in the southern coastal Mersin province, with the first reactor expected to be operational this year. The second plant is scheduled to be erected in the northern province of Sinop.