Demonstration - at BP's offices to mark BTC pipeline coming onstream

40 protestors and 30 police officers gathered on Friday 26 May outside BP's headquarters in London to demonstrate against the arrival of the first tanker in Ceyhan port to pick up Azeri oil. Organised by the Baku Ceyhan Campaign and Rising Tide London, the banners condemned the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline for fueling war and climate chaos. A bike-powered sound system and street theatre featuring greedy BP execs kept the demonstrators and passersby entertained.

On Saturday 27 May, British tanker "Hawthorne" began loading Azeri Light crude oil from Ceyhan port. After a year of delays, this marks a step towrads BTC coming onstream. BP and the Turkish government are organising an "official" launch party on July 13th to which George Bush, Tony Blai and Vladimir Putin have been invited.

Below is the text of a leaflet handed out during the demonstration:

BP's Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline - social disruption and climate chaos

BP’s oil pipeline through Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey is due to come onstream this May 27. Construction of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan project has severely disrupted the environment and the lives of local people for the last 3 years, yet this is only the start. Communities living along the pipeline route must now live with the constant threat of leaks and intimidation from security forces. Meanwhile, BTC will accelerate climate chaos, pumping 1 million barrels of crude oil EVERY day for the next forty years.

The BTC pipeline:

props up authoritarianism in Azerbaijan
has rendered numerous Georgian homes uninhabitable and polluted water supplies
has led to the intimidation of critics by the Turkish state
has created an influx of predominantly foreign male workers in some communities, resulting in trafficking of women and increased sexually transmitted diseases
has harmed the social fabric of pipeline-blighted local communities
threatens serious oil pollution
will accelerate climate chaos. Total C02 emissions of oil pumped will be 185 million tons a year – around 33% of total UK emissions.

We're not going away

The affected communities fear that when oil starts flowing through the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline this May, we’ll forget about them. But they need our support in exposing the pipeline’s failures and in holding BP and the project funders to account.
The BTC pipeline:

is now opposed by people living on the route since promises of development have been broken
has taken land and livelihoods from people often with minimal or no compensation
has violated labour standards in all three countries
has bulldozed through protected areas and violated environmental permits

Institutions that funded the pipeline include:

Royal Bank of Scotland
UK Export Credit Guarantee Department
European Bank for Reconstruction & Development

To mark the departure of the first tanker from Ceyhan terminal, the Baku-Ceyhan Campaign has called a protest: 5pm, Friday May 26, BP HQ, 1 St James Square, SW1

The Baku Ceyhan Campaign is a coalition of The Corner House, Friends of the Earth, the Kurdish Human Rights Project and PLATFORM.

For more information:bakuceyhan@googlemail.com www.baku.org.uk

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