Explosion in Pipeline Halts Iran's Gas Exports to Turkey

Turkey's Energy Minister announced that an explosion on the pipeline route for exporting Iranian gas to Turkey has halted gas exports from this route since early Monday, August 5. According to the Associated Press, Taner Yildiz, the Turkish minister, stated on Tuesday that this explosion, which occurred in Agri province of Turkey, 15 kilometers from the Iranian border, has caused a large fire. The Turkish state pipeline company, Botas, also reported that the fire in the pipeline has been contained and repairs have begun, but the timeline for resuming gas flow is unclear. This pipeline, which annually transfers 10 billion cubic meters of gas from Iran to Turkey, had previously been targeted multiple times by Kurdish rebels in Turkey from the 1990s until 2013. No group has yet claimed responsibility for this recent explosion, but the Turkish Energy Minister has pointed the finger at Kurdish rebels. Turkish media have also implicated the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in this explosion. The PKK has previously blown up gas pipelines in this region as part of its armed campaign for autonomy. This separatist group accuses the Turkish government of 'implicit collaboration' with the Islamic State (formerly ISIS) forces in Syria and believes that Turkey's actions exacerbate the plight of Kurdish forces in Syria. In recent statements, the PKK has also indicated that the reconciliation process with the Ankara government, which has been in place since 2003, has become 'meaningless' due to Turkey's airstrikes against Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq. Following these developments, the PKK has initiated a series of new attacks against Turkish military forces in recent weeks. Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu pledged on Monday to continue military operations against the PKK until the group is disarmed.