The British Petroleum continues to try to manipulate the public opinion in the region: The company reports on the completion of a cultural heritage training program in Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey. BP is the main operator of Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) and South Caucasus Pipeline (SCP) projects.
Bleak Past
Currently subject to intense public scrutiny following the ongoing oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, British Petroleum controls and operates several major pipeline systems in the world such as the Trans-Alaska Pipeline (USA), the Forties Pipeline in Scotland (UK), the Oleoducto Central pipeline (Colombia), and the BTC pipeline in the South Caucasus, and is known for its disastrous performance in areas of environmental preservation and social responsibility.
Recognized as one of Scotland's largest polluters by Greenpeace International, BP is also known for destroying large areas of the rainforest in Brazil. In 2005, 15 workers were incinerated, and more than 170 injured, following an explosion at BP’s refinery in Texas, USA. One year later, a leak in one of BP's pipelines on the North Slope of Alaska caused the second biggest oil spill in Alaskan history. In the same year, it was revealed that BP continued to discharge toxic waste to Lake Michigan. The U.S. Department of Justice condemned BP for all these environmental crimes, fraud and market manipulation in October 2007.
The company is also known for its dark political past. Since its incorporation as the Anglo-Persian Oil Company in 1909, BP has frequently intervened in the internal affairs of the host countries in order to protect its interests at all costs. Such interventions have included its support for the military coup against the Iranian government of M. Mossadeq in 1953, its continued operations in South Africa during the apartheid regime despite an international embargo, its support for death squads in Colombia, and its support for political repression in Angola and Nigeria.
Burdensome Presence
The company’s operations in our region have followed the same pattern. BP is the lead shareholder (30 percent) and the operator of the BTC pipeline.
In this capacity, the company has been one of the main supporters of Azerbaijan’s autocratic regime led by Mr. Ilham Aliyev. Considered as one of the most repressive states in the world by all human rights organizations including the Human Rights Watch and the Amnesty International, the quasi-dynastic Aliyev regime has a long-standing record of pressuring opposition political parties, religious activists and civil society.
On the environmental front, BP’s explorations and extractions in Azerbaijan and the BTC pipeline are considered as reckless as its operations elsewhere in the globe. Multiple occurrences of environmental pollution have already been recorded around Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli oil field in the Baku region.
As the lead shareholder in the BTC pipeline, BP has obtained effective governing power over a strip of land 2,800 kilometers long, where the company will likely override all national environmental, social, and human rights laws for the next 40 years.
An ecological disaster such as the oil leak in Alaska or the one in the Gulf of Mexico will endanger not only the population and wildlife in Azerbaijan, Georgia and eastern Turkey but those of the entire Caspian basin and the South Caucasus including Armenia and Artsakh.
Believable Partners
In an attempt to earn a greener and more socially responsible image, BP rebranded itself as "Beyond Petroleum” and adopted a new logo, a vibrant green and yellow sunflower, in 2000.
This shows how cynical the company’s public relations can be and it therefore should not sound surprising that the company’s PR in the South Caucasus has focused on the topic of cultural heritage. This tactic tries to leverage on the widespread obsession with history and heritage in the region to cover up the company’s reckless operations.
The BP sponsored ‘cultural heritage program’ started in March 2008 along the Azerbaijan-Georgia-Turkey pipeline corridor. The recent training was ‘the capacity building component’ of the program.
According to a BP press release dated 23 April 2010, the training program was conducted by a group of international experts including scientists from the US-based Smithsonian Institution, the Arizona University and the National Museum in Berlin.
Participants in the event were some 43 representatives of the Gobustan State Historical Reserve (Azerbaijan), the Azerbaijan Institute of Archaeology, and the Georgian National Museum.
The 2-day training focused on a range of topics covering assessment methodologies, collection and conservation techniques. It was preceded by a 2-day workshop aimed at providing an opportunity for the experts involved in the ‘BTC/SCP archaeological research’ programs to analyze and interpret the BTC/SCP findings in a manner consistent with the international practice. During the event the experts also highlighted the cultural significance of the BTC/SCP archaeological findings and the archaeology of the Caucasus region in general for the history of the world civilization.
“We are pleased to see that our commitments to cultural heritage capacity building, awareness raising, and education are being fulfilled. We believe the program will enhance good relationship with the archaeological communities both nationally and internationally, and will contribute to the development of Archaeology in the Caucasus,” said Seymour Khalilov, BP’s Vice-President for Communications and External Affairs.
The BTC/SCP Cultural Heritage Program in Azerbaijan and Georgia is implemented by the Smithsonian Institution. Partnership with such a prestigious institution surely helps ensure the credibility of the program as well as boost BP’s image.
In addition to the capacity building element, the program is expected to include a number of activities such as the publication of a catalogue on the artifacts discovered in the three countries (Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey) along the BTC/SCP route and the creation of a dedicated website that will describe the BTC/SCP Cultural Heritage Program. The total value of the program is around 1 million USD.
Bleak Past
Currently subject to intense public scrutiny following the ongoing oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, British Petroleum controls and operates several major pipeline systems in the world such as the Trans-Alaska Pipeline (USA), the Forties Pipeline in Scotland (UK), the Oleoducto Central pipeline (Colombia), and the BTC pipeline in the South Caucasus, and is known for its disastrous performance in areas of environmental preservation and social responsibility.
Recognized as one of Scotland's largest polluters by Greenpeace International, BP is also known for destroying large areas of the rainforest in Brazil. In 2005, 15 workers were incinerated, and more than 170 injured, following an explosion at BP’s refinery in Texas, USA. One year later, a leak in one of BP's pipelines on the North Slope of Alaska caused the second biggest oil spill in Alaskan history. In the same year, it was revealed that BP continued to discharge toxic waste to Lake Michigan. The U.S. Department of Justice condemned BP for all these environmental crimes, fraud and market manipulation in October 2007.
The company is also known for its dark political past. Since its incorporation as the Anglo-Persian Oil Company in 1909, BP has frequently intervened in the internal affairs of the host countries in order to protect its interests at all costs. Such interventions have included its support for the military coup against the Iranian government of M. Mossadeq in 1953, its continued operations in South Africa during the apartheid regime despite an international embargo, its support for death squads in Colombia, and its support for political repression in Angola and Nigeria.
Burdensome Presence
The company’s operations in our region have followed the same pattern. BP is the lead shareholder (30 percent) and the operator of the BTC pipeline.
In this capacity, the company has been one of the main supporters of Azerbaijan’s autocratic regime led by Mr. Ilham Aliyev. Considered as one of the most repressive states in the world by all human rights organizations including the Human Rights Watch and the Amnesty International, the quasi-dynastic Aliyev regime has a long-standing record of pressuring opposition political parties, religious activists and civil society.
On the environmental front, BP’s explorations and extractions in Azerbaijan and the BTC pipeline are considered as reckless as its operations elsewhere in the globe. Multiple occurrences of environmental pollution have already been recorded around Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli oil field in the Baku region.
As the lead shareholder in the BTC pipeline, BP has obtained effective governing power over a strip of land 2,800 kilometers long, where the company will likely override all national environmental, social, and human rights laws for the next 40 years.
An ecological disaster such as the oil leak in Alaska or the one in the Gulf of Mexico will endanger not only the population and wildlife in Azerbaijan, Georgia and eastern Turkey but those of the entire Caspian basin and the South Caucasus including Armenia and Artsakh.
Believable Partners
In an attempt to earn a greener and more socially responsible image, BP rebranded itself as "Beyond Petroleum” and adopted a new logo, a vibrant green and yellow sunflower, in 2000.
This shows how cynical the company’s public relations can be and it therefore should not sound surprising that the company’s PR in the South Caucasus has focused on the topic of cultural heritage. This tactic tries to leverage on the widespread obsession with history and heritage in the region to cover up the company’s reckless operations.
The BP sponsored ‘cultural heritage program’ started in March 2008 along the Azerbaijan-Georgia-Turkey pipeline corridor. The recent training was ‘the capacity building component’ of the program.
According to a BP press release dated 23 April 2010, the training program was conducted by a group of international experts including scientists from the US-based Smithsonian Institution, the Arizona University and the National Museum in Berlin.
Participants in the event were some 43 representatives of the Gobustan State Historical Reserve (Azerbaijan), the Azerbaijan Institute of Archaeology, and the Georgian National Museum.
The 2-day training focused on a range of topics covering assessment methodologies, collection and conservation techniques. It was preceded by a 2-day workshop aimed at providing an opportunity for the experts involved in the ‘BTC/SCP archaeological research’ programs to analyze and interpret the BTC/SCP findings in a manner consistent with the international practice. During the event the experts also highlighted the cultural significance of the BTC/SCP archaeological findings and the archaeology of the Caucasus region in general for the history of the world civilization.
“We are pleased to see that our commitments to cultural heritage capacity building, awareness raising, and education are being fulfilled. We believe the program will enhance good relationship with the archaeological communities both nationally and internationally, and will contribute to the development of Archaeology in the Caucasus,” said Seymour Khalilov, BP’s Vice-President for Communications and External Affairs.
The BTC/SCP Cultural Heritage Program in Azerbaijan and Georgia is implemented by the Smithsonian Institution. Partnership with such a prestigious institution surely helps ensure the credibility of the program as well as boost BP’s image.
In addition to the capacity building element, the program is expected to include a number of activities such as the publication of a catalogue on the artifacts discovered in the three countries (Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey) along the BTC/SCP route and the creation of a dedicated website that will describe the BTC/SCP Cultural Heritage Program. The total value of the program is around 1 million USD.
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