The Ancient Silk Road

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Chris spoke to me about this a few days ago and it really interested me and I thought we could collate here as it relates to what is going on in Georgia right now.




Ancient Silk Road to get its modern railway counterpart under UN auspices

6 October 2006 – From Armenia to Viet Nam, an ‘iron’ version of the famed Silk Road will move a step closer to reality next month when Asian transport ministers sign an agreement under United Nations auspices for a trans-continental rail network to link their capital cities, ports and industrial centres, and facilitate international trade and tourism.

The Trans-Asian Railway Network (TAR) Agreement, to be signed at the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) Ministerial Conference on Transport from 6-11 November in Busan, Republic of Korea, comes on the heels of the Asian Highway Network that came into force last year, also under UNESCAP auspices.

http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.as...an&Cr1=Railway

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Today another name for that silk road is the Europe-Caucasus-Asia transport corridor.

AZERBAIJAN, GEORGIA AND TURKEY: BUILDING A TRANSPORTATION TRIUMVIRATE?


First, it was energy; now, transportation. The Kars-Akhalkalaki-Tbilisi-Baku railway project, run by Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey, is strengthening a sense of regional cooperation in the South Caucasus.

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan met in Tbilisi on February 7 with Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili to sign a framework agreement on the project, which will link Turkey, Azerbaijan and Georgia via a 258-kilometer-long railway. The agreement must then be submitted to the Azerbaijani, Turkish and Georgian parliaments for ratification.

The railroad, 14 years in the making, has been touted as the shortest route for commercial traffic between Asia and Europe. Some observers have forecast that, if completed, it could become a competitor to the Trans-Siberian Railway. Construction is scheduled to begin in June 2007, with a tentative completion date by the end of 2008, Azerbaijani Transportation Minister Ziya Mammadov told the Azerbaijani independent television station ANS on January 18. A January 16 statement from the Azerbaijani foreign ministry predicted that the railroad "will create conditions for the revival of the historical Silk Road and will develop the Europe-Caucasus-Asia transport corridor," thereby advancing "the region’s integration with Europe."


http://www.eurasianet.org/department...av020707.shtml

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So is Putin just there to protect the people of South Ossettia?

Or is he more interested in regaining control of an economically strategic region, the most vital and shortest corridor between East and West.

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The Israel Connection

Israel is a partner in the Baku-Tblisi- Ceyhan pipeline which brings oil and gas to the Eastern Mediterranean. More than 20 percent of Israeli oil is imported from Azerbaijan, of which a large share transits through the BTC pipeline. Controlled by British Petroleum, the BTC pipeline has dramatically changed the geopolitics of the Eastern Mediterranean and the Caucusus:

While the official reports state that the BTC pipeline will "channel oil to Western markets", what is rarely acknowledged is that part of the oil from the Caspian sea would be directly channeled towards Israel. In this regard, an underwater Israeli-Turkish pipeline project has been envisaged which would link Ceyhan to the Israeli port of Ashkelon and from there through Israel's main pipeline system, to the Red Sea.

The objective of Israel is not only to acquire Caspian sea oil for its own consumption needs but also to play a key role in re-exporting Caspian sea oil back to the Asian markets through the Red Sea port of Eilat. The strategic implications of this re-routing of Caspian sea oil are farreaching.

What is envisaged is to link the BTC pipeline to the Trans-Israel Eilat-Ashkelon pipeline, also known as Israel's Tipline, from Ceyhan to the Israeli port of Ashkelon. In April 2006, Israel and Turkey announced plans for four underwater pipelines, which would bypass Syrian and Lebanese territory.

"Turkey and Israel are negotiating the construction of a multi-million-dollar energy and water project that will transport water, electricity, natural gas and oil by pipelines to Israel, with the oil to be sent onward from Israel to the Far East,

The new Turkish-Israeli proposal under discussion would see the transfer of water, electricity, natural gas and oil to Israel via four underwater pipelines.

“Baku oil can be transported to Ashkelon via this new pipeline and to India and the Far East.[via the Red sea]"

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satelli...cle%2FShowFull

"Ceyhan and the Mediterranean port of Ashkelon are situated only 400 km apart. Oil can be transported to the city in tankers or via specially constructed under-water pipeline. From Ashkelon the oil can be pumped through already existing pipeline to the port of Eilat at the Red Sea; and from there it can be transported to India and other Asian countries in tankers.

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Water for Israel

Also involved in this project is a pipeline to bring water to Israel, pumping water from upstream resources of the Tigris and Euphrates river system in Anatolia. This has been a long-run strategic objective of Israel to the detriment of Syria and Iraq. Israel's agenda with regard to water is supported by the military cooperation agreement between Tel Aviv and Ankara.
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The Strategic Re-routing of Central Asian Oil

Diverting Central Asian oil and gas to the Eastern Mediterranean (under Israeli military protection), for re-export back to Asia, serves to undermine the inter-Asian energy market, which is based on the development of direct pipeline corridors linking Central Asia and Russia to South Asia, China and the Far East.

Ultimately, this design is intended to weaken Russia's role in Central Asia and cut off China from Central Asian oil resources. It is also intended to isolate Iran.

Meanwhile, Israel has emerged as a new powerful player in the global energy market.

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Israeli Pipelines


http://www.eapc.co.il/pipelines.html info

http://www.eapc.co.il/map.html map