Ismail Cem: We are not going to have the Straits turned into an oil pipeline

It has been announced that when the "Chevron" oil pipeline comes on line in 2010, the amount of tanker traffic in the Bosphorus will increase three-fold, the Anatolia news agency reported yesterday. In an interview with the New York Times, Foreign Minister Ismail Cem said: "We are not going to have the Straits turned into an oil pipeline. We will never allow this to happen." The New York Times had reported that the American "Chevron" oil company was going to bring a pipeline worth $2.5 billion and pumping oil from the Tengiz basin to a terminal in Novorossisk on line in July this year. The news item said that this pipeline would increase the amount of oil produced at Novorossisk two-fold and there would be a corresponding increase in the amount of tanker traffic using the Bosphorus and the Straits taking this oil to Europe. The paper pointed out the concerns Turkish authorities have regarding an increased chance of an accident in the straits as a result of the increased tanker traffic. It says the only solution to be found will be the Baku-Ceyhan oil pipeline coming on line. Statistics show that over 50,000 commercial ships ply the waters of the Bosphorus and the Straits every year and that already the Straits are three times more crowded than the Suez and four times more crowded than the Panama canals. In order for a vessel longer than 250 m. to transit the Strait, all other traffic has to be put on hold until the vessel is safely through. Turkish authorities say that by 2010, they will need to close the Straits to other traffic four times a day and it takes over two hours for large tankers and bulk cargo carriers to transit the Straits.