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Attack on Turkey-Iraq pipeline knocks out
oil flows; PKK blamed
21.7.2012
By Ekurd.net staff writers |
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The PKK demanded Turkey's recognition of the Kurds'
identity in its constitution and of their language
as a native language along with Turkish in the
country's Kurdish areas, the
party also demanded an end to ethnic discrimination
in Turkish laws and constitution against Kurds,
ranting them full political freedoms.
Explosion, fire shuts down
Kirkuk-Ceyhan oil pipeline flows; PKK blamed
July 21, 2012
DIYARBAKIR, The Kurdish
region of Turkey, — Firefighters in Turkey's Kurdish
region (Northern Kurdistan) in the southeast on
Saturday put out a fire on a pipeline carrying about
a quarter of Iraq's oil exports, but it was unclear
when oil would resume flowing, security sources
said.
They blamed sabotage by Kurdish separatists for the
explosion on the Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline.
The fire broke out at 11 p.m. (1700 EDT) on Friday
near the town of Midyat in Kurdish Mardin
province, near the Syrian Kurdistan border.
Officials blamed the attack on the Kurdistan Workers
Party (PKK), a Kurdish separatist group that has
claimed responsibility for past attacks on the
960-km (600-mile) pipeline.
Meanwhile, it is reported that, in connection with
an explosion on a gas pipeline from Iraq to Turkey
increased its purchases of gas from Azerbaijan and
Russia.
Firat News agency ANF, a website with ties to the
PKK, also said the outlawed group was behind the
attack.
Insurgents in Iraq have in the past disrupted the
transport of oil on the pipeline,www.ekurd.net
the country's largest, and technical faults on the
35-year-old link, which consists of two pipes, have
also cut flows.
The PKK has claimed responsibility for attacks on
other natural-gas and oil pipelines in what it has
calls a campaign to target Turkey's strategic
assets.
On July 1, 2012, the PKK claims
responsibility for Baku-Tbilisi gas
pipeline sabotage: The PKK claimed responsibility
for the explosion on the pipeline in Sarıkamış
district of Kars in the Kurdish region in
southeastern Turkey near the Armenian border on 29
May
On April 4, 2012, PKK claims
responsibility for bombing pipeline
in Turkey: The blasts in southeastern Turkey on
April 3, temporarily shut down a pipeline pumping
oil from Iraq, with Kurdish rebels suspected to be
behind the explosions, Turkish authorities said.
Three blasts hit the section of the pipeline running
near the border city of Idil in the Kurdish Sirnak
province, sparking a fire, said a statement by the
Sirnak regional government.
The PKK has several times proposed peaceful solutions regarding Kurdish problem,
Turkey has always refused saying that it will not negotiate with “terrorists”.
Since it was established in 1984, the PKK has been fighting the Turkish state,
which still denies the constitutional existence of Kurds, to establish a Kurdish
state in the south east of the country.
But now its aim is the creation an autonomous region and more cultural rights
for ethnic Kurds who constitute the greatest minority in Turkey, numbering more
than 20 million.
A large Turkey's Kurdish community openly sympathise with the Kurdish PKK
rebels.
The PKK wants constitutional recognition for the Kurds, regional
self-governance and Kurdish-language education in schools.
PKK's demands included releasing PKK detainees, lifting the ban on education in
Kurdish, paving the way for an autonomous democrat Kurdish system within Turkey,
reducing pressure on the detained PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan, stopping military action
against the Kurdish party and recomposing the Turkish constitution.
Turkey refuses to recognize its Kurdish population
as a distinct minority. It has allowed some cultural
rights such as limited broadcasts in the Kurdish
language and private Kurdish language courses with
the prodding of the European Union, but Kurdish
politicians say the measures fall short of their
expectations.
The PKK is considered ass 'terrorist' organization by
Ankara, U.S., the PKK continues to be on the
blacklist list in EU despite court ruling which
overturned a decision
to place the Kurdish rebel group PKK and its
political wing on the European Union's terror list.
Sources: Reuters | AFP | ANF | Ekurd.net |
Agencies
Copyright
© 2012 Ekurd.net. All rights reserved
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