Turkey Tighter Security Measures on Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum Pipeline

After a destructive accident on a section of the Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum (South Caucasus) gas pipeline additional security measures are being implemented at the area.

According to information from the Azeri Press Agency, surveillance cameras are being installed along the Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum gas pipeline that was damaged in an explosion on 4th August. In an area which passes through the Sarikamis district, a province of Kars in north-eastern Turkey.

“Additional security measures are being implemented at the pipeline, but I can’t give detailed information about it,” the head of Transit Petroleum Pipelines Department under Turkey's Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources Reha Aykul Muratoglu told APA-Economics.

The Turkish state pipeline company Botas started restoration of the damaged area the same day and works are underway in the part of the pipeline where the explosion happened.

The exact cause of the incident is not yet known, but the Minister of Energy and Natural Resources of Turkey, Taner Yildiz, claims it was a terrorist attack.

No-one was hurt during the explosion and the supply of gas through the pipeline has been stopped until reconstruction works are complete.

The Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum gas pipeline, also called the South Caucasus pipeline, is required for Azerbaijani gas export from the Shah Deniz field. The pipeline originates at the terminal near Baku, goes through Georgia and ends in the Turkish city of Erzurum, where the gas distribution hub is located.