---------- From: Rick Rozoff <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> [The very last paragraph tells the real story: "Turkey also has interests in the Caspian Sea, advocating a multi-billion dollar pipeline project to carry Azeri crude oil to Western markets via Georgia." As the danger of military confrontation between Iran and Azerbaijan grows greater, the U.S. has served Iran with a warning that it will support the Turkey-Georgia-Azerbaijan alliance. The first two countries don't border on the Caspian, of course, but are considered by the West to be key players in the latter's oil grab there.] WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 15, 2001 THE TIMES OF INDIA US slams Iranian incursions into Azeri airspace WASHINGTON: The United States on Tuesday slammed Iran for violating the airspace of Azerbaijan in a series of incidents that it said were "provocative" and hurt efforts to peacefully resolve territorial disputes in the Caspian region. State Department spokesman Philip Reeker said Washington had been able to confirm a number of reports beginning from the end of last month that Iranian aircraft had violated Azerbaijan's airspace. "Such actions are provocative and further, they're counterproductive to efforts to achieve a peaceful resolution of Caspian boundary disputes," Reeker told reporters. He declined to say how the United States had been able to confirm the reports which have been denied by the Iran. Azeri officials have said that Iranian aircraft have been entering the country's airspace in moves that have further stoked tension between the countries which are locked in a border dispute over the Caspian Sea. Rising tensions over the incursions followed an incident earlier last month in which an Iranian warship trained its guns on an Azeri oil research vessel in a disputed sector of the resource-rich Caspian. That incident cast a shadow over the multi-billion-dollar development of the Caspian's oil reserves with the participation of Western companies and Russia, Georgia and Turkey have all called for the dispute to be settled through negotiation. Reeker said the United States, like the Russians, Georgians and Turks would like to see the dispute resolved with talks. "The United States supports negotiation among the littoral states of the Caspian Sea to settle the question of boundaries," he said. "We firmly support Azerbaijan and all other countries which choose negotiation, not confrontation, as a path to those goals." Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Russia have been unable to agree on how to share the Caspian's wealth since the collapse of the Soviet Union 10 years ago. Iran insists that all five Caspian countries receive an equal 20 percent portion of the sea, which would cut into the sectors Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan have already marked out for themselves. Turkey also has interests in the Caspian Sea, advocating a multi-billion dollar pipeline project to carry Azeri crude oil to western markets via Georgia. ( AFP ) _________________________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki Phone +358-40-7177941 Fax +358-9-7591081 http://www.kominf.pp.fi General class struggle news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe mails to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Geopolitical news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] __________________________________________________
