Turkish pipeline ablaze after blast

Iraqi workers repair a damaged pipeline in 2004.


Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=133272§ionid=351020204


An explosion has blown up a section of a pipeline carrying oil from Iraq to southern Turkey and set it on fire.

The blast occurred on Saturday near the town of Midyat in the southeastern province of Mardin, but the cause is still unknown, Turkey's Anatolia news agency reported.

Firefighters have arrived on the scene, but the fire is still raging, according to the latest reports.

The 970-kilometer (600-mile) twin conduit pipeline begins in Iraq's northern oil hub of Kirkuk and ends in the port of Ceyhan on Turkey's Mediterranean coast, from where the crude is shipped to world markets by tanker.

Last year, the pipeline carried 167.6 million barrels of oil, according to Turkish government statistics.

Over the past few years, the pipeline has been targeted several times by the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which has been waging campaign for self-rule in Turkey's mainly Kurdish southeast for 26 years.

The PKK militants launch their attacks from Iraq's Qandil Mountains in the areas under the control of Kurdistan Regional Government President Massoud Barzani. Israel and Israeli firms are also operating in the Qandil mountain range.