The Messenger, Georgia
June 14 2005

BTC pipeline under threat?

The Georgian media is speculating that the pipeline may be targeted
by Armenian and Kurdish terrorist groups
By M. Alkhazashvili

Security issues surrounding the BTC pipeline, which began operating
in May, have come increasingly to the fore in recent weeks, with
speculation in the Georgian media that the pipeline could be the
target of a terrorist attack.

The reports follows threats from different Kurdish and Armenian
organizations that they intend to carry out a terrorist attack on the
pipeline. The Georgian media speculates that such groups could be
supported by Russia, the country that would benefit most should the
BTC project be derailed, although there is no evidence to back up
this theory.

>>From the very beginning, the possibility of terrorist attacks was
seen as one reason for not going ahead with the pipeline. As early as
August 1993, Asala (the Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of
Armenia) warned the pipeline must not pass through “Armenian occupied
territories.” The Kurdistan National Congress is another organization
that threatened the BTC project at the time.

After construction got underway, however, the situation changed
considerably. Asala stopped committing terrorist acts and the
Kurdistan National Congress agreed to a ceasefire. But on June 6th
Rezonansi reported that the Kurdish National Congress had again
issued a statement threatening the BTC project.

A large section of the pipeline runs through Turkish Kurdistan, where
the situation has always been tense. Last summer there were several
terrorist acts in Turkey which Kurdish terrorist organizations took
responsibility for and they have threatened to further increase their
activities, reports Alia.

Rezonansi reports that relations between Kurds and the Turkish
government have recently become strained and that Kurdish
organization are now threatening both the Turkish tourist industry
and the BTC pipeline.

As for any possible Armenian threat, however, Van Baiburt, a Georgian
MP of Armenian origin, says that the Armenian threat is not serious
and that Asala has genuinely given up terrorist activities.