TURKEY: ROW BREWS OVER PLANS FOR MORE BOSPHORUS OIL SHIPMENTS

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• published: 21 Jul 2015
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Eng/Turkish/Nat A storm is brewing between Turkey and its Black Sea neighbours over plans to radically increase the amount of oil shipped through the Bosporus Straits and the heart of Istanbul. New oilfields around the Caspian Sea are nearing completion - with production forecast at around 700 thousand barrels a day by the year 2010. The Turkish government and environmentalists say that will increase tanker traffic to intolerable levels and they're pressing for a pipeline to be built instead. Turkish environmentalists took the matter into their own hands on Sunday. Some 250 boats packed with protestors crammed the Bosporus straits sounding sirens and slowing tanker traffic. "Oil through a pipeline not through the Bosphorus" and "Save the Bosphorus," were slogans on banners waved by the protestors. The straits split the Asian and the European sides of Istanbul and is one of the busiest waterways in the world. As world trade increases so does traffic through the straits, but the biggest worry for Istanbul is the imminent increase in oil transportation. Turkey fears that an increase in oil production from the Caspian Sea will pose an even greater threat to this city of over 11 (m) million. Already 440 (m) million barrels of oil make their way through the narrow winding Bosphorus each year. The new Caspian production could add hundreds of millions more. Turkey, competing with Russia to carry Caspian Sea oil, opposes a Russian project to carry the oil through the Bosphorus. The Turkish environment minister on Sunday called on other nations to respect Turkey's concerns. SOUNDBITE: (Turkish) "I invite all the people of the world to be sensitive about the Bosphorus. We are calling on the world not to sacrifice this international heritage. We are bringing the security of 10 million people to their attention. And we will never allow the Bosphorus as an oil transportation route." SUPER CAPTION: Imren Aykut, Turkish Tourism Minister The Bosphorus has been the scene of nearly 200 accidents in the past decade - on average 11 per year. In 1994 a Greek Cypriot tanker collided with another vessel, killing 30 seamen and spilling 20 (t) thousand tonnes of oil into the Bosphorus. The straits were a burning inferno for five days causing untold environmental damage. Many Turks worry that already common collisions and groundings would increase if tanker traffic in the Bosphorus increases. SOUNDBITE: (English) "Imagine two ships colliding at the straits with a population of more than 11 million people. Thousands of years of cultural heritage, environmental problems, put all this together I don't know how we can say...It will be the world's biggest, largest sea catastrophe ever." SUPERCAPTION: Yilmaz Dagci, Founder member of TURMEPA - Turkish Maritime Environment Protection Association The stakes are rising because the Russians plan to ship Caspian oil from the Black Sea port of Novorossiysk through the Bosphorus. Turkey proposes building a pipeline from Baku, Azerbaijan, to the Turkish Mediterranean port of Ceyhan. Turkey says this is the cheapest and most environmentally friendly option. The Caspian oil fields are expected to produce some 700 (t) thousand barrels of oil per day by the year 2010 - a load the Bosphorus could not handle. Turkey is already allowing early oil production of about 5 million tonnes per year to pass through the narrow straits. Many believe the best solution for Turkey is a pipeline. SOUNDBITE: (English) You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/fb531bb65c9675aa86595eff4eba1e59 Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork