Historical background to the document "Speech of the President of the Azerbaijan Republic Heydar Aliyev at the ceremony of signing of the documents on transportation of crude oil through the territory of Azerbaijan - Georgia - Turkey by means of the Baku - Tbilisi - Ceyhan main export pipeline (Istanbul, palace "Chiraghan", November, 18, 1999)"


A package of agreements on the construction and operation of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan main export oil pipeline was signed in the presence of Heydar Aliyev, President of Turkey Suleyman Demirel, President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev, Turkmen President Saparmurat Niyazov and U.S. President Bill Clinton on November 18, 1999 within the framework of the Istanbul Summit of OSCE .

The BTC pipeline transports the Azerbaijani oil from the Caspian Sea to the port of Ceyhan, Turkey, and further to the European markets via the Mediterranean Sea. The 1,768-km-long pipeline is one of the great engineering achievements of the new millennium.

“90 Instants of the Great leader”, Heydar Aliyev Heritage research center, “Sharq-Qarb”, Baku-2013, p.153