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Turkey tightens security against Kurdish rebels
Eric Watkins
Senior Correspondent
Oil and Gas Journal

LOS ANGELES, Oct. 19 — Turkey has stepped up protection for its
section of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) oil pipeline following the
rebel Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) threats to attack the line.

A senior official in the Turkish ministry of energy said security
measures have been stepped up, saying it is normal to have some
threats against important pipelines when Turkey is expected to launch
a military offensive into northern Iraq.

The Turkish parliament Oct. 17, by a vote of 507-19, authorized the
government to send troops into northern Iraq to root out Kurdish
rebels based there who have increased cross-border attacks in
southeastern Turkey over the past 6 months.

The crisis along the border, where Turkish troops have been massed
since summer, has driven up oil prices, which surged briefly to a
record $89/bbl just after the parliament’s Oct. 17 vote. Traders worry
that any escalation in the conflict will cut oil supplies from the
Kurdish region of northern Iraq.

Underlining that concern, a Kurdish lawmaker in Iraq, Adnan al-Mufti,
speaker of the regional parliament, said a Turkish incursion would
threaten the relative stability of the autonomous Kurdish region and
he called on Turkey to deal with the issue peacefully.

While winning parliamentary approval for the incursion, Turkish
authorities have nonetheless urged the Iraqi government to rein in the
rebels. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned, however,
that if Baghdad does not solve the problem, his government will have
no choice but to pursue the PKK inside Iraq.

Contact Eric Watkins at hippalus@yahoo.com.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress