Azerbaijan, Turkey agree to protect key oil pipelines

.c The Associated Press

BAKU, Azerbaijan (AP) – Azerbaijan and Turkey agreed Tuesday to
cooperate in protecting strategic oil and gas pipelines, including the
major Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline that is set to begin operating
this year.

A statement by Azerbaijan’s Defense Ministry gave few specifics,
quoting only the commander of Turkey’s naval forces, Adm. Ozden Ornek,
and Azerbaijan’s Defense Minister Safar Abiyev, as saying cooperation
was essential.

“We must work hand in hand in order to safeguard this pipeline, a
pipeline of brotherhood and friendship,” the statement said.

The US$3.6-billion (euro2.7-billion) Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline will
pump Caspian Sea crude from Baku 1,760 kilometers (1,100 miles) to the
Turkish Mediterranean port for delivery to Western markets.

Abiyev also said in the statement that he hoped that Turkey would
remain on Azerbaijan’s side in its long-standing conflict with Armenia
over Nagorno-Karabakh. The disputed enclave has been under ethnic
Armenian control since a war ended in 1994 without a political
settlement.

Abiyev called on Turkish officials to keep borders with Armenia
closed. Ornek vowed that Turkey would not open its borders to
Armenia, the statement said.

Armenia and Turkey are longtime foes. Armenians accuse Turks of
killing up to 1.5 million Armenians between 1915 and 1923.

Turkey claims the number of deaths is inflated and says the victims
were killed in civil unrest. The two countries have no diplomatic
relations.

03/29/05 11:29 EST