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An explosion hit Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum gas pipeline in the territory of the Turkish province Kars, APA reports.

Gunay Ozdemir, the governor of Kars, said the explosion took place in Sarikamish district. It was possible to prevent the fire from reaching the forest. The witnesses said the blast could be heard from 20 km distance.

According to the report, the Minister of Energy and Natural Resources of Turkey, Taner Yildiz, said the PKK’s (Kurdistan Workers' Party) attack was the cause of the explosion on the pipeline. “The attack, that took place at 01:15 tonight on the main gas pipeline Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum in Sarikamish district, comes as a concrete proof that the terrorists want to deprive our citizens from rest. The blue fuel supply to our region has been cut because of the explosion. If they had a way, they would leave without gas not only the residents of Chukhurjad, but also those of Nishantash,” the Turkish minister stated.

However, the residence of the governor of Kars told the information agency Trend that the explosion was the result of gas leak, rather than an act of terror.

The spokesperson for SOCAR (State Oil Company of Azerbaijan), Nizameddin Guliyev, said Azerbaijan did not suffer losses from the Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum pipeline explosion. The company Botas, Turkey, is responsible for the protection of the section where the explosion occurred. According to the information, there was practically no gas in the pipeline as the gas supply had been cut off there since August 2 because the platform on Shah Deniz gas field in Azerbaijan had stopped for maintenance operations.
According to Oxu.az, the spokesperson for BP-Azerbaijan Tamam Bayatly said neither Azerbaijan nor the company BP-Azerbaijan were the owners of that pipeline.

Information agency Report says that there is still gas leak in the line. "The intervention is impossible at the moment due to the gas leak and high pressure. Otherwise, there may be fire. Repairing works can start only after the pressure drops at the emergency section of the pipeline. Only by then will it become clear whether it was a terroristic act or a technical failure," Kars Governorate stated.

Situation in Turkey has recently sharply escalated after the terror attack organized by the “Islamic State" (IS) in Suruc on the Syrian border and policemen’s killings in the south-eastern provinces, for which the Kurdistan Workers' Party claimed to be responsible. On 24 July 2015, Turkish Armed Forces attacked the IS positions in the north of Syria and the PKK in north of Iraq using F-16 fighters, as well as tanks and artillery from the Turkish border areas. In response, the PKK declared on its website that a truce with Ankara "has lost its meaning." Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan also gave up the peace process.