As a result, although the purpose of destabilization of Georgia was partly achieved, the chain reaction led to a much wider conflict in the strategic Russian area of Chechnya. The Chechen war seriously undermined Russia's claim for a politically safe Russian route as the main pipeline passes at the very place of the most intensive military operations. This in its turn suddenly made Georgia to seem the most attractive of all choices. Georgia is politically fully acceptable for the West, and as the Government in Tbilisi conceded to nearly all Russian demands, it made it very difficult for Russia to openly oppose the Georgian route. The Turkish factor is especially important.
Turkey opposes Russia's total domination over oil transportation.
At the same time, it has economic motivation of trying to substitute Iraqi oil which it is no longer able to transport because of sanctions. Besides, there is a possibility that some of Russia's interest can be accommodated. Georgia has some historic tradition of serving as a route for oil transportation. The Baku-Batumi pipeline was constructed in 1912 and is still in service. At the time of coming into operation, it was the principle means of transportation from Azerbaijan to the outside world.