GEORGIA: TURKISH PRESIDENT SULEYMAN DEMIREL SUPPORTS PROPOSED OIL PIPELINE LINKING AZERBAIJAN AND TURKEY VIA GEORGIA

Record ID: 344803

  • Title: GEORGIA: TURKISH PRESIDENT SULEYMAN DEMIREL SUPPORTS PROPOSED OIL PIPELINE LINKING AZERBAIJAN AND TURKEY VIA GEORGIA
  • Date: 15th November 1994
  • Summary: TBILISI, GEORGIA (NOVEMBER 15, 1994) (RTV - ACCESS ALL) 1. GV TURKISH PRESIDENT SULEYMAN DEMIREL'S PLANE TAXIS TOWARDS RED CARPET AND GATHERED OFFICIALS 0.06 2. SCU TURKISH AND GEORGIAN FLAGS 0.09 3. GV DEMIREL AND ENTOURAGE DISEMBARK FROM PLANE, GREETED BY GEORGIAN LEADER EDUARD SHEVARDNADZE 0.17 4. WV BAND PLAYING
  • Embargoed: 30th November 1994 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: TBILISI, GEORGIA
  • Reuters ID: LVACTY2GX8APSDIANFI8O03XIXYQ
  • Story Text: Turkish President Suleyman Demirel, on a one day visit to Georgia on Tuesday (November 15), gave his support for a proposed oil pipeline linking Azerbaijan and Turkey via Georgia.

    "I would be very happy to see this pipeline through Georgia," said Demirel after talks with Georgian leader Eduard Shevardnadze.

    "We discussed this and other economic issues." Turkish Petroleum was one company among a Western consortium of oil giants to sign a landmark seven-billion U.S. dollar deal in September with Azerbaijan to develop offshore reserves in the Caspian Sea.

    But before production can begin a transport route to deliver the oil to prospective refining facilities in Turkey must be determined.

    Geographically the most logical route would pass from Azerbaijan to Turkey via Armenia. But the two countries are locked in a six-year war over the enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh, making that idea unfeasible.

    Demirel, whose country has already given Georgia 50 million U.S. dollars in aid this year, said his country was considering an additional 50 million dollars.

    Both Shevardnadze and Demirel sidestepped questions about Russia's political role in the region. Three thousand Russian peacekeepers now patrol Georgia's breakaway province of Abkhazia.

    Many observers see this as an attempt by Moscow to restore its lost empire.


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