The New Great Game Round-Up: September 22, 2014

Washington’s Futile Efforts to Destabilize Russia, Azerbaijan & Turkey Push Southern Gas Corridor
*The Great Game Round-Up brings you the latest newsworthy developments regarding Central Asia and the Caucasus region. We document the struggle for influence, power, hegemony and profits in Central Asia and the Caucasus region between a U. S.-dominated NATO, its GCC proxies, Russia, China and other regional players.
On September 20, 1994, Azerbaijan’s President Heydar Aliyev and nine foreign oil companies signed the ‘Contract of the Century’ for the exploration and exploitation of three offshore oil fields in the Caspian Sea. This is hailed as the ‘beginning of independent Azerbaijan’s policy of energy diversification’ by the United States and other Western powers. A few days ago, Azerbaijan’s embassy in the U. S., state-owned oil and natural gas corporation SOCAR, supermajor BP and the United States-Azerbaijan Chamber of Commerce (USACC), which boasts advisors such as James Baker III, Zbigniew Brzezinski, Henry Kissinger and Brent Scowcroft, celebrated the 20th anniversary of the ‘Contract of the Century’ in Washington. The key role of Azerbaijan in the Southern Gas Corridor was one of the major topics during the celebrations and the Aliyev regime is doing its best to satisfy the expectations:
Turkey, Azerbaijan break ground for Trans-Anatolian Gas Pipeline Turkey’s energy minister has declared a gas pipeline a ‘peace corridor’ linking the Caucasus with the Balkans. ‘We open the project as a peace corridor that is the result of 15 years hard work by Turkey and Azerbaijan. Through the South Caucasus pipeline and its backbone, the Trans-Anatolia pipeline, we connect the Caucasus with the Balkans. I wish every country could understand the true value of these projects and contribute with us,’ Taner Yldz said while speaking at the groundbreaking ceremony of the South Caucasus pipeline in Baku on Sept. 20.
Azerbaijan & Turkey Push Southern Gas Corridor…

This post was published at Boiling Frogs Post on September 22, 2014.