DATE=11/18/1999
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=TURKEY / PIPELINE (L ONLY)
NUMBER=2-256328
BYLINE=AMBERIN ZAMAN
DATELINE=ISTANBUL
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: The leaders of Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Georgia
have signed an agreement to build a pipeline to carry
oil from the Caspian Sea to Turkish ports. Amberin
Zaman in Istanbul reports the agreement will vastly
enhance Turkey's regional influence after the pipeline
is built.
TEXT: President Clinton looked on as the three
leaders signed four separate agreements in ceremonies
in a palace along the shore of the Bosphorus Straits.
The pipeline will carry Caspian Sea oil from the Azeri
capital, Baku, via Georgia, to Turkey's southern
Mediterranean port of Ceyhan. The agreements set out
the legal and political framework for the multi-
billion dollar pipeline. But the agreements do not
touch on the unresolved issue of financing.
The proposed Baku-to-Ceyhan pipeline lies at the heart
of a fierce battle for regional influence being waged
between Turkey and the United States on the one hand,
and Russia and Iran on the other.
The Clinton Administration views the Turkish export
route for Azerbaijan's huge reserves of oil and
natural gas as a strategic goal. It is aimed at
reducing the former Soviet republic's dependency on
Moscow and generating the regional prosperity that
would create new markets for American goods.
Moving the oil by pipeline through Turkey -- a staunch
NATO ally -- would also keep Iran from gaining a
foothold in the region.
Russia is upset by the agreement and has been
furiously lobbying for the oil to be exported through
existing pipelines in Russia.
But analysts say the resumption of hostilities in
Chechyna makes it unlikely major western oil companies
developing the Azeri fields will risk expanding the
Russian route. (SIGNED)
NEB/AZ/JWH/RAE
18-Nov-1999 12:49 PM EDT (18-Nov-1999 1749 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
.
|
NEWSLETTER
|
|
Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list
|
|
|
