Sample News Story
Explosion hits Iran-Turkey gas pipeline
02/10/2006
A section of the Iran to Turkey gas pipeline was blown up last week near Bazargan in northwest Iran, about 1 km east of the Gürbulak border crossing. Approximately 60 to 70 meters of the pipeline will have to be replaced. The explosion has caused disruption to gas supplies, though Botas, Turkey’s state-owned pipeline company, is reported to have said that gas from Russia through the Blue Stream pipeline will ensure that there are no shortages. Botas was unavailable for comment.
Turkish and Iranian officials have declared the explosion an act of sabotage but point to different culprits. The Turkish Daily News quoted a Turkish energy ministry official as saying that Iranians were responsible, while officials at the Iranian embassy in Ankara attributed the explosion to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), a Kurdish separatist organisation.
“Two members of the PKK terrorist group carried out the pipeline attack. One of them has been arrested,” Iran’s Fars News Agency quoted Western Azerbaijan Police Chief Hasan Karami as saying.
A similar incident took place in August, destroying 200 metres of the pipeline and causing disruption to supplies to the Erzincan province. The PKK apparently claimed responsibility, saying that it was a warning to both countries against carrying out further attacks on the PKK in northern Iraq.