Another Turkish Pipeline Attack Indicates Increase in Tensions

A few hours after Iran resumed natural gas exports to Turkey, another attack hit a pipeline in Turkey. According to Reuters, flow from Azerbaijan was not affected as supply was already suspended for planned works. 

"With last night's attack, the separatist terror organization (PKK) has once again shown that they aim to prevent our people from accessing their most basic needs," Energy Minister Taner Yildiz said in a statement.

According to Reuters, Turkish officials claim that members of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) is responsible for the early-Tuesday assault on the pipeline in Turkey’s Posof province near to the border with Georgia.

Apart from the attach to the pipeline connecting Iran and Turkey, last week witnessed another attack on a pipeline connecting Turkey and Iraqi Kurdistan. The developments indicate an increase in tensions between Turkey and PKK.

Last month, Turkey’s air force attacked Islamic State (IS) positions in Syria and Kurdish PKK militants in northern Iraq.