Summary of Azeri Lider TV programme “167 Hours” at 1700 gmt 29 May 05

Lider TV, Baku
29 May 05

Presenter Sahib Aliyev

1. 0025 Presenter says that today’s programme will be primarily
dedicated to the inauguration of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline
and its impact on Azerbaijan.

2. 0115 Correspondent reports about the inauguration of the Azerbaijani
section of the pipeline on 25 May. Video showed Azerbaijani President
Ilham Aliyev speaking at the ceremony. Aliyev says that the pipeline
will certainly help Azerbaijan tackle economic issues and raise the
living standards of the population.

3. 0441 Correspondent comments on the remarks made by the presidents
of Turkey, Georgia and Kazakhstan and says that the pipeline is very
important for each of these countries. Video showed the presidents
speaking.

4. 0604 Ali Hasanov, head of the public-political department of the
Presidential Executive Staff, reflects on the historical background
of the pipeline. Hasanov compares the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline
to the Suez Canal and says the late President Heydar Aliyev had to
face opposition to the project from various corners of the globe.

5. 1203 Report on Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev’s speech at
the ceremony and his tribute to Heydar Aliyev. Correspondent quotes
the Kazakh president as saying that it was the genius of Aliyev that
made this project come true. Nazarbayev talks in Russian about Heydar
Aliyev. Correspondent says that Nazarbayev suggested that the project
be called the Aktau-Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline.

6. 1601 Report on Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev’s speech before
a crowd in Baku on 25 May. Video showed Aliyev walking through
a crowd. Nazarbayev praises Ilham Aliyev as able successor of his
father, Heydar Aliyev.

7. 1731 Presenter says Azerbaijan is already a key point in the Turkic
world linking geographically and culturally Turkey and Central Asia.

8. 2038 Report on letters of congratulation received by the Azerbaijani
president on the occasion of the 25 May inauguration. Correspondent
quotes letters received from the leaders of the USA, Norway, UK,
France and Ukraine.

9. 2349 Ali Hasanov, interviewed in the studio, says that through
the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline Azerbaijan acts as a guarantor
of the energy security of Europe and the USA. Hasanov says that
as a result of successful policies of the Azerbaijani government
the country is playing a major role in the region. Hasanov says
that Azerbaijan withstood international pressure when it decided to
dispatch peacekeepers to Iraq. He avoids answering a question on how
the pipeline will affect Azerbaijan’s ability to go to war to resolve
the Nagornyy Karabakh conflict.

10. 3100 Report on the reaction of opposition newspapers to the opening
of the pipeline. Correspondent says that pro-opposition newspapers
ignored the event seeking to play down its importance.

11. 3421 Hasanov says that the Azerbaijani opposition is blinded
by its ambitions and refuses to see achievements of the Azerbaijani
authorities.

12. 3651 Report on the reaction of the western media to the opening
of the pipeline. Correspondent says that major foreign newspapers
have described it as a landmark event and a defeat for Russia.

13. 4052 Presenter says that many of the Arab countries, Russia
and Iran are displeased at the developments in Azerbaijan. However,
it were Armenian newspapers that were most critical of the pipeline,
he says. Presenter says that the Armenians are enraged at being left
out of major regional projects.

14. 4636 Natiq Aliyev, the president of Azerbaijan’s State Oil Company,
says that special measures will be taken to check the quality of the
oil pumped through the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline.

15. 4908 Presenter ridicules a report in an Armenian newspaper which
describes as “historically Armenian” the parts of Georgia and Turkey
through which the pipeline goes.

16. 5147 Report on the Azerbaijani Democratic Republic which existed
between 1918 and 1920 and was invaded by Soviet Russia on 28 April
1920.

17. 5600 Presenter talks about the French referendum on the new
constitution for the European Union and signs off.