Azernews.Az

ISTANBUL—Turkey shut down a natural-gas pipeline from Iran on Wednesday, following an explosion on the line that came in the midst of an upsurge of attacks by Kurdish militants.

The pipeline closure, confirmed by a spokesman for Turkey's state-owned gas and oil pipeline company Botas A.S., came just a day after militants from the Kurdish Workers Party, or PKK, killed six soldiers in an attack along Turkey's border with Iraq, according to the Turkish military. The increasing violence has pushed Turkey to harden its position on the conflict with the PKK, which has claimed thousands of lives.

The Botas spokesman said the cause of Wednesday's explosion on a section of pipeline close to the border with Iran hadn't been determined. He said gas supplies to consumers in Turkey wouldn't be disrupted in the week it would take to repair the damage. Russia's OAO Gazprom said Wednesday it increased gas deliveries through its Blue Stream pipeline, which crosses to Turkey under the Black Sea, to compensate for the cutoff in Iranian deliveries.

Suspicion immediately fell on Kurdish militants, who blew up an Iraq-Turkey oil pipeline last month and are also under pressure from government forces inside Iran. The PKK has dramatically stepped up attacks in Turkey since the movement's jailed leader, Abdullah Öcalan, announced in May he was breaking off peace efforts with Turkey's government due to lack of progress.

The PKK's offensive has caused Turkey's government, which launched an initiative last year aimed at meeting some Kurdish demands and improving dialogue, to toughen its stance in the face of rising nationalist feeling at home and elections next year.

On Wednesday, the BBC reported that PKK military commander Murat Karayilan said the group was willing to lay down arms under United Nations supervision, if Turkey's government agreed to a cease-fire and stopped killing and arresting Kurdish civilians and politicians.

According to the BBC report, Mr. Karayilan also warned in an interview at his base in Northern Iraq that if Turkey failed to respond, "we will have to announce independence."

A government spokesman declined to comment on remarks by terrorists, the BBC said. The PKK is listed as a terrorist group in Turkey, as well as by the U.S. and the European Union.

The PKK have been waging a war in Turkey that has cost around 40,000 lives on both sides since 1984. Though initially the goal was a separate state of Kurdistan, PKK leaders have soft-pedalled that demand in recent years, focusing instead on seeking language rights, greater local autonomy and amnesty for its fighters.

Up to one-fifth of Turkey's population are ethnic Kurds. Kurdish nationalists also claim territory in Iraq, Iran and Syria.

Ankara met some demands, such as allowing Kurdish-language television broadcasts last year, but the initiative seemed to slam into reverse as PKK members who crossed the border from Iraq to give themselves up were put on trial rather than given amnesty. Courts also banned the main Kurdish political party in Turkey. Last month, prosecutors arrested some 150 Kurdish political figures in eastern Turkey, including mayors.

The latest attacks bring the number of Turkish soldiers killed to 47 in less than two months, according to data from the Turkish military's General Staff. PKK guerrillas have also been killed, as Turkey's military has followed raiding parties back into Northern Iraq with air attacks.

The PKK in recent days has also threatened to expand its field of attacks to major Turkish cities and holiday resorts, to which millions of European and other tourists flock annually.

As the government hardens its rhetoric and announces plans to develop an all-professional military unit to combat the PKK and defend the country's eastern borders, there appears little hope of a reduction in the fighting before next year's elections, analysts say.