Turkey’s energy minister calls BTE gas pipeline explosion terrorist attack

The explosion on the Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum (BTE) gas pipeline in Turkey’s Kars province was a terrorist attack, the Anadolu Agency cited a statement by Turkey’s energy and natural resources minister, Taner Yildiz, on August 4.

Earlier, the residence of Kars province’s governor told Trend that the explosion was due to a gas leak and it wasn’t a terrorist attack.

“No one was injured in the explosion,” said the governor’s residence, adding that the pipeline’s section, damaged by explosion, is currently being restored.

The explosion occurred on the BTE’s section in the Sarikamis region of Turkey’s northeastern province of Kars on August 4.

The Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum gas pipeline, also called the South Caucasus Pipeline, is required to export Azerbaijan’s gas from ‘Shah Deniz’.

The pipeline starts at a terminal near Baku, going through Georgia, and ends in the Turkish city of Erzurum, where there is a gas distribution hub. (Trend.az)