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FARFETCHED PROPOSAL
Friday, July 18th, 2014
BY GAREN YEGPARIAN
We, Armenians, should be developing better, broader, and deeper
relations with the Kurds (especially of Turkey).
The Kurds should be reaching out to us in more ways than Genocide
related matters.
Turkey claims to want "normalized" relations with the Republic of
Armenia (RoA).
Turkey is cynically supporting the Kurds of Iraq while "negotiating"
with the Kurds that are its citizens and simultaneously fighting the
Kurds of Syria (through intermediaries-- the Islamic extremists it
is arming, backing, and providing a base of operations for).
Iran is confronted with the reality of a de facto Kurdish state on
its borders and is likely concerned about the potential restiveness
of its own Kurdish citizens.
The KRG (Kurdish Regional Government, of northern Iraq, that is,
not the fledgling one in Syria) is now sitting on far more oil (and
I'd bet methane [natural gas] too) than it knows what to do with,
especially after taking control of Kirkuk when the Islamist extremists
took over a portion of Iraq. A recent oil sale by the KRG made the
news by being transshipped across Turkey, then wandering around the
sea in a tanker until Israel bought it.
The RoA needs to diversify its energy sources while it transitions to
renewables (solar, wind, geothermal, small hydropower, etc). Think
about it. Fuel comes through Georgia from Russia to the north
and directly from Iran to the south. The northerly source has been
disrupted previously. The southerly source could be disrupted by well
placed pup-Turk (Azeri) shelling.
Put all this together and what do you get? An oil and/or methane
pipeline from the KRG to the RoA. Take a look at the accompanying
table. It would be the shortest of the pipelines listed. The numbers
show the distances between the beginning and ending points (cities)
of exiting or historical pipelines (The Baku-Batum pipeline was first
completed in 1906 and is no longer in use.) It also shows the length
of the pipeline between those two points.
Fig. 1
The "jiggle factor" is a measure of the zig-zaginess of the pipeline
to avoid various obstacles (mountains, lakes, bad ground conditions,
human settlements, etc.). Because a pipeline from Kirkuk to Yerevan
would run north-south and therefore CROSS mountain ranges (the other
pipelines tend to run East-West, parallel to the ranges, and are thus
easier to route), I've guesstimated a higher jiggle factor than any of
the other pipelines in the area have. This is to show how eminently
doable such a project is. I have also included the distances between
major cities that would be familiar to Diasporan readers to give a
sense of the scale such a project would entail.
So everyone wins, the Kurds/Armenians as sellers/buyers, as would be
either Iran or Turkey being a transit country that makes money and
works as a good neighbor with KRG/RoA, gaining diplomatic/political
advantage.
Of course, the idea of enabling more hydro-carbon (oil, gas, coal)
burning is extremely odious. We have climate change issues that are
threatening all of humanity. But, when a nation-state is sandwiched
between two others that are inclined to annihilate it, its government
must look at all options. Who knows, it might even motivate the
environmental community to help solve the Armenian Question and bring
Turkey and Azerbaijan into the world of civilized nation-states.
Tell me what you think. This idea is really "out there" and improbable,
right? Heck, people want to make money, which drives all kinds of
otherwise improbable activity.
http://asbarez.com/125125/farfetched-proposal/
Friday, July 18th, 2014
BY GAREN YEGPARIAN
We, Armenians, should be developing better, broader, and deeper
relations with the Kurds (especially of Turkey).
The Kurds should be reaching out to us in more ways than Genocide
related matters.
Turkey claims to want "normalized" relations with the Republic of
Armenia (RoA).
Turkey is cynically supporting the Kurds of Iraq while "negotiating"
with the Kurds that are its citizens and simultaneously fighting the
Kurds of Syria (through intermediaries-- the Islamic extremists it
is arming, backing, and providing a base of operations for).
Iran is confronted with the reality of a de facto Kurdish state on
its borders and is likely concerned about the potential restiveness
of its own Kurdish citizens.
The KRG (Kurdish Regional Government, of northern Iraq, that is,
not the fledgling one in Syria) is now sitting on far more oil (and
I'd bet methane [natural gas] too) than it knows what to do with,
especially after taking control of Kirkuk when the Islamist extremists
took over a portion of Iraq. A recent oil sale by the KRG made the
news by being transshipped across Turkey, then wandering around the
sea in a tanker until Israel bought it.
The RoA needs to diversify its energy sources while it transitions to
renewables (solar, wind, geothermal, small hydropower, etc). Think
about it. Fuel comes through Georgia from Russia to the north
and directly from Iran to the south. The northerly source has been
disrupted previously. The southerly source could be disrupted by well
placed pup-Turk (Azeri) shelling.
Put all this together and what do you get? An oil and/or methane
pipeline from the KRG to the RoA. Take a look at the accompanying
table. It would be the shortest of the pipelines listed. The numbers
show the distances between the beginning and ending points (cities)
of exiting or historical pipelines (The Baku-Batum pipeline was first
completed in 1906 and is no longer in use.) It also shows the length
of the pipeline between those two points.
Fig. 1
The "jiggle factor" is a measure of the zig-zaginess of the pipeline
to avoid various obstacles (mountains, lakes, bad ground conditions,
human settlements, etc.). Because a pipeline from Kirkuk to Yerevan
would run north-south and therefore CROSS mountain ranges (the other
pipelines tend to run East-West, parallel to the ranges, and are thus
easier to route), I've guesstimated a higher jiggle factor than any of
the other pipelines in the area have. This is to show how eminently
doable such a project is. I have also included the distances between
major cities that would be familiar to Diasporan readers to give a
sense of the scale such a project would entail.
So everyone wins, the Kurds/Armenians as sellers/buyers, as would be
either Iran or Turkey being a transit country that makes money and
works as a good neighbor with KRG/RoA, gaining diplomatic/political
advantage.
Of course, the idea of enabling more hydro-carbon (oil, gas, coal)
burning is extremely odious. We have climate change issues that are
threatening all of humanity. But, when a nation-state is sandwiched
between two others that are inclined to annihilate it, its government
must look at all options. Who knows, it might even motivate the
environmental community to help solve the Armenian Question and bring
Turkey and Azerbaijan into the world of civilized nation-states.
Tell me what you think. This idea is really "out there" and improbable,
right? Heck, people want to make money, which drives all kinds of
otherwise improbable activity.
http://asbarez.com/125125/farfetched-proposal/