Explosion in Turkey shuts down key Iraq oil pipeline
ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — An explosion has shut down a pipeline in southeastern Turkey that carries oil from Iraq to world markets. The state-run Anadolu Agency reported that the blast late Tuesday in Kahramanmaras province caused a huge fire that forced authorities to also shut down a highway. No one was hurt in the explosion. The pipeline carries oil from Iraq’s Kirkuk oil fields to the Turkish port of Ceyhan. Turkey pipeline company BOTAS said the fire was extinguished and that operations would resume “as soon as possible after the necessary measures are taken.” The cause of the explosion was under investigation. Kurdish rebels who have led an armed insurgency against the Turkish state since 1984 have in the past bombed pipelines in the region including the Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline.