Central Washington University Science Discussion

reply to discussion below

According to Alsancak (2010), Turkey, due to its location between the world’s main energy (oil and gas) suppliers and the world’s consumers of energy, is a main hub or bridge for energy. For this reason Turkey has several crude oil and gas pipelines that run through the country. The main threats to the pipelines is “energy” terrorism and illegal tapping. These threats have a direct effect on oil prices. Therefore, security of the energy infrastructure is of vital importance. As of the publication of this article there were several attacks on oil and gas pipelines running through Turkey since 2004. Also, between 2003 and 2008 there were several hundred incidents of illegal tapping. However, due to the efforts of the Turkish security forces such as the Gendarmerie and other government organizations, attacks and illegal tapping have decreased significantly. According to the Inter Governmental Agreement (IGA) and the Host Government Agreement, the responsibility for security of critical energy infrastructure are the Turkish State Authorities. Also Due to Turkey’s membership in NATO, the e Turks has the capacity to call on NATO resources as well (Alsancak, 2010).