Reuters quotes Rafik Hariri Center Nonresident Fellow Aaron Stein on Turkey’s plan to boost security for its energy infrastructure as Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) attacks rise:
“Even the best security plan would not be able to stop attacks. We’re talking about hundreds of kilometers of pipelines being patrolled 24/7 – that’s not possible,” Aaron Stein, Nonresident Fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East said.
The Iraqi pipeline carries 650,000 barrels per day of Kurdish and Kirkuk oil to Turkey’s southern port of Ceyhan, the only export outlet for Iraqi Kurdistan. The PKK attacks have drawn criticism from the president of the semi-autonomous enclave, Massud Barzani, and senior officials.