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Explosion on Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline
interrupts Iraq's oil flow to Turkey
6.8.2012 |
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The blast hit the Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline in Kurdish
Mardin province in Turkey Kurdistan close to
Turkey's border with Syrian Kurdistan.
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.
.
Photo: EPA
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August 6, 2012
ANKARA,— An overnight blast in Turkey's
Kurdish region in southeastern of the country
interrupted oil flow from Iraq, with Kurdish PKK
rebels suspected to be behind the explosions,
Turkish authorities said Monday.
The blast hit the Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline in Kurdish
Mardin province in Turkey Kurdistan close to
Turkey's border with Syrian Kurdistan and repairs
are expected to take up to 10 days, an energy
ministry official said on customary condition of
anonymity.
The incident, believed to be an act of sabotage by
the Kurdish rebels, also sparked a fire that was
brought under control on Monday, according to
another source from the ministry.
PKK have sabotaged the pipeline several times in the
past as part of an armed campaign against the Ankara
government.
The pipeline has also been repeatedly attacked by
Sunni Arab insurgents inside Iraq since the US-led
invasion of the country in 2003.
The oil flow was again cut last month when a fire
erupted in the same Mardin province after a rebel
attack.
On July 20, 2012, a blast put out a
fire on a Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline
carrying about a quarter of Iraq's oil exports. They
blamed sabotage by Kurdish separatists for the
explosion.
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,www.ekurd.net
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 970-kilometre (600-mile) pipeline runs from
Iraq's northern oil hub of Kirkuk to the port of
Ceyhan on Turkey's Mediterranean coast, pumping
450,000 to 500,000 barrels of crude oil per day.
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.
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