PKK yet to attack pipelines as threatened

WASHINGTON, Oct. 24 (UPI) -- Iraq’s pipelines and oil infrastructure await a promised attack by Kurdish separatists in response to Turkish attacks on the rebel mountain bases.

The Turkish media is reporting an airstrike on suspected bases of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, though exact details of anything beyond a Turkish troop buildup along the Iraqi border is not confirmed.

The PKK, which uses violent tactics in its aim for Kurdish independence, is considered a terrorist organization by the United States and Turkey.

Its bases in the Qandil Mountain area, however, are not near Iraq’s oil infrastructure.

But a PKK leader has said it will target Iraqi pipelines flowing to Turkey as response to any Turkish attack. Abd-al-Rahman Chadarchi told Al-Sharq al-Awsat that oil tankers heading to Turkey may also be hit "since they bring huge amounts of money to Turkey."

"The military regime in the country will use this to develop its war machine to utilize it against the Kurdish people in Turkish Kurdistan,” he added.

While oil prices jumped as the Turkish-PKK bluster heightened since last week, it is unlikely that the oil sector will be affected.

“It looks like the institutional investors are looking for almost any event to emphasize with people who may not be as familiar with Middle East geography or politics as they ought to be to help push up the price of oil,” said Bulent Aliriza, an energy expert and director of the Center for Strategic & International Studies’ Turkey Project.