Türkiye Plans Grand Opening for BTC Pipeline on 13 July

Türkiye will hold a major inaugural ceremony next month for the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) oil pipeline, with organizers reporting that roughly 50 world leaders have been invited, among them the American, Russian, and British leaders George W. Bush, Vladimir Putin, and Tony Blair.

The 1,770-kilometer line runs from Azerbaijan's Caspian coast through Georgia to the Mediterranean port of Ceyhan, and its first cargo left that port on 4 June. Built with strong American support, it routes Caspian crude to Western markets while bypassing both Iran and Russia. BP leads the project, and Kazakhstan is expected to contribute oil alongside Azerbaijan once the pipeline reaches full capacity.

Historical summary. TurkishPress restated this wire report, first published in June 2006, in its own words.