'Turkey is now divided into three countries, the area where Turkish law
applies; the Kurdish areas under official or de facto military rule; and a
strip running the entire length of the country, where BP is the effective
government. The MAI was rightly rejected by governments for eroding
national sovereignty under pressure from civil society. Now these companies
are trying to revive the MAI by negotiating directly with undemocratic
governments.' -- Nicholas Hildyard, Cornerhouse

'[Turkey] has recently charged students signing a Kurdish education
petition with membership of an illegal terrorist organisation, and charged
a father who named his daughter after a Kurdish character in a popular soap
with sabotage of the state. These precedents do not instil confidence in
the way such nebulous terms as 'civil disturbance' and 'terrorism' will be
applied under this agreement.' -- Anders Lustgarten, Kurdish Human Rights
Project

The interest in Afghanistan is and always has been oil. Afghanistan lacks
oil but passage is needed for oil pipelines to transfer oil from the oil
rich ex-Soviet republics to the north. That is why US attacked Afghanistan,
11 September 2001 was merely the pretext. Another piece of the jigsaw has
now slotted into place. Oil majors have negotiated a pipeline route through
Turkey.

The planned 1760km oil pipeline is backed by BP (UK), Unocal (US) Statoil
(Norway), Turkiye Petroleum (Turkey), ENI (Italy), TotalFinaElf (France),
Itochu Oil (Japan), Delta Hess (US/Saudi Arabia) and the State Oil Company
of Azerbaijan. It would stretch from Baku on the Caspian Sea, through
T'blisi in Georgia, to Ceyhan on the Turkish Mediterranean coast. Expected
to be completed by 2005, it would operate for at least 40 years.

The BP-Turkey agreement, known as the Host Government Agreement (HGA),
creates a corridor running through some of Turkey's most politically
volatile regions, including Turkish occupied Kurdistan. The corridor would
effectively be outside the national government's jurisdiction for the
lifetime of the proposed project.

The agreement exempts the companies from obligations under any current or
future Turkish law that may threaten the project's profits, including
environmental, social and human rights legislation. The only Turkish law
not superseded by the agreement is the Constitution.

The HGA allows the consortium building the pipeline to demand unlimited
protection from Turkish security forces, without safeguards against human
rights abuses. Under the vague wording of the agreement, paramilitary
units could be placed along the pipeline route to pre-empt 'civil
disturbance' or 'terrorist' activities. Since the pipeline cuts repeatedly
through villages and bisects established ownership patterns, people could
find themselves cut off from their families or land and be forced to
trespass regularly on oil company property in their daily lives.

Other provisions in the HGA include unfettered access to water, regardless
of the needs of local communities, and exemption from liability in the
event of an oil spill or any other harm caused by the pipeline consortium.
The Turkish government can intervene only temporarily in the case of an
'imminent' and 'material' threat to the public, the environment or
national security.

The route chosen for the pipeline is one of the most expensive possible for
Caspian oil exports. According to BP Chairman John Browne, its
profitability will be dependent on 'free public money' - much of which
will come from funding sources like the World Bank and export credit
agencies. The legal agreement signed with the Turkish government further
props up the project by preventing the Turkish government from taking any
actions that could disrupt its 'economic equilibrium'.

Similar agreements between governments and the oil companies have been
negotiated for Georgia and Azerbaijan. Commenting on the implications
for Georgia, Manana Kochladze of Green Alternatives stated: 'The
requirement to compensate the consortium for any disruption caused to the
'economic equilibrium' of the project by new social and environmental laws
severely curtails the development possibilities for our country.'

All three countries are known for their disregard for human rights. Once
again we see what Big Business means by 'sustainable development' and
'public private partnerships'.

Background info:

Oil and the Caspian Region, BVEJ newsletter #0020 January 2002

 http://bvej.freewebsites.com
 http://www.heureka.clara.net/index.html#turkey