Washington Times
By Guy Taylor – The Washington Times – Updated: 4:22 p.m. on Sunday,
Azerbaijani officials warned over the weekend that an escalating military clash between with rival neighbor Armenia could disrupt oil and gas flows from the Caucasus region to Western European markets.
Deadly fighting that broke out last week near the contested enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh has shown little sign of being resolved quickly, setting nerves on edge across the region and beyond over the potential for widening violence.
The two sides fought a war in the 1990s over the enclave, a breakaway region of Azerbaijan. The latest violence represents the worst flareup in years over the frozen conflict, with at least 20 people killed last week in skirmishes that featured the use of heavy artillery and drones between Azerbaijani and Armenian forces.
The Trump administration is calling for calm. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told reporters last week that the U.S. is “deeply concerned” about the violence. “We urge the sides to de-escalate immediately and re-establish a meaningful dialogue,” he said.
Concerns are also ratcheted up in Europe, since Elshad Nassirov, the vice president of the Azeri state energy company SOCAR, warned over the weekend that energy infrastructure involved in shipping Caspian oil and gas to world markets is located near the fighting.
According to Reuters, Mr. Nassirov said the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline, the Baku-Supsa oil pipeline, the Baku-Tbilisi-Erzrum gas pipeline and some other facilities were located not far from the territory where last week’s clashes took place.
Speaking on a conference call, Mr. Nassirov also referred to the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline, the last stretch of the so-called Southern Gas Corridor which also includes two other pipelines running via Georgia and Turkey. Reuters described the pipeline as important because its completion means the whole corridor will be operational, reducing Europe’s dependence on Russian gas supplies.