|
Oil flow from Turkish-Iraqi pipeline
resumes
28.8.2012 |
|
|
|
Turkish special forces members at the Ceyhan crude
oil terminal near Turkey's southern coastal city of
Adana. Photo:
AFP
•
See Related Links
August 28, 2012
DIYARBAKIR, Turkey's Kurdish region,— Oil
flow in the Turkish-Iraqi pipeline resumed Tuesday
following the blast that damaged one of the two
lines, Turkey's energy minister said Tuesday.
"Oil has started flowing from one of the lines as of
1000 am (0700 GMT) today...We expect the parallel
line to be operational within a week (after
repairs)," minister Taner Yildiz said in a press
announcement.
The
explosion
damaged one pipeline and sparked a fire in Sirnak
province near the Iraqi border, forcing the closure
of the other parallel line for safety reasons.
Yildiz blamed the blast on Kurdish rebels, who have
in the past targeted the pipeline. The line is also
frequently sabotaged by oil smugglers.
Following the incident, Iraqi officials had called
on Turkey to use the parallel pipeline to avoid
disruptions in the crucial flow.
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.
Iraq depends on oil sales for the vast majority of
government income. The oil-rich nation exported over
2.5 million barrels per day in July,www.ekurd.net
earning about $7.5 billion in revenues.
PKK have sabotaged the pipeline several times in the
past as part of an armed campaign against the Ankara
government.
On August 27, an
explosion hit
the Turkish-Iraqi pipeline, causing a fire and
stopping oil flow to Turkey.
The fire started in the Silopi and Cizre districts
of Sirnak province in the Turkey's Kurdish region,
near the Iraqi Kurdish border following the blast on
the Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline
On August 6, 2012, a
blast hit the Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline in Kurdish
Mardin province in Turkey' Kurdish region close to
Turkey's border with Syrian Kurdistan region.
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. More than 40,000 people have since been
killed.
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.
Copyright ©, respective
author or news agency,
AFP | ekurd.net | Agencies
Top |
Kurd Net
does not take credit for and is not responsible for the
content of news information on this page
|
®
