Georgia, Azerbaijan, Turkey and the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) oil pipeline

This article is taken from Turkish news source Hurriyet


Russia and Armenia oppose the BTC oil pipeline. It is not a secret that Russia is uncomfortable with the BTC pipeline, which was designated as an alternative energy route.

The first leg of the BTC is Azerbaijan's capital Baku, the second one is Georgia's capital Tbilisi and the third one is Turkey's southern province of Ceyhan through Erzincan. The BTC oil pipeline, led by BP, opened in 2006 and can pump up to 1 million barrels a day of Azerbaijani crude oil to the Turkish port of Ceyhan.
The Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum gas pipeline takes gas from the Shah Deniz gas field in the Caspian Sea to Erzurum in Turkey. The pipeline, jointly operated by BP and Statoil, began exports to Turkey in 2007

Russia opened war against Georgia by using the situation in South Ossetia as an excuse. The aim of this war is to overthrow the Saakashvili government, which wants to weaken the Russian domination (in the region) and seeks NATO membership.