The Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan crude oil pipeline is scheduled to be formally inaugurated on 13 July 2006 in Ceyhan, a port city on Türkiye's southeastern Mediterranean coast. Preparations for the ceremony, described as the largest event ever organized in Türkiye, are expected to cost between 3 and 3.5 million USD. A tent capable of accommodating 1,280 guests is being assembled by hundreds of workers, and tight security has been imposed across Adana and Ceyhan, including a full closure of the highway connecting the two cities on inauguration day.
Turkish President Ahmet Necdet Sezer will host the event, with Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev, Georgia's President Mikhail Saakashvili, and numerous other heads of state, foreign ministers, and energy ministers among the expected attendees. Guests are to gather in Istanbul on 12 July before flying south to Adana and traveling onward to Ceyhan by armored vehicle.
Stretching 1,760 km, the pipeline carries Caspian Sea crude from Azerbaijan through Georgia to Türkiye, ranking as the world's second-longest oil pipeline. Its daily capacity reaches 1 million barrels. BP, holding a 30.1 percent stake, leads the operating consortium. Once fully operational, roughly 8 percent of global commercial oil will transit through Türkiye, generating an estimated 300 million USD in annual revenue for the country. Kazakhstan agreed to join the project following a presidential agreement signed on 16 June.
Historical summary. TurkishPress restated this wire report, first published in July 2006, in its own words.