TODAY.AZ / Politics

Summit of Caspian states may take place in early 2018

31 October 2017 [15:26] - TODAY.AZ

By Azernews


By Rashid Shirinov

The summit of the Caspian states may be held in Astana in early 2018, and the foreign ministers of Russia, Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan may meet in December in Moscow to discuss preparation for the summit.

Russian State Secretary, Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin made the remark on the Russian TV, TASS reported on October 31.

“Work in this direction is underway, now we are trying to complete certain details of this document. Maybe, it will be possible to gather the foreign ministers in Moscow sometime in December in order to organize a decisive summit closer to spring. This time it should take place in Kazakhstan, most likely in Astana,” he said.

Karasin also noted that the Caspian Sea should become an example of cooperation against the background of different unpredictable approaches to major international problems.

“This will provide an opportunity for all five states not to wait for favors from extra-regional players, not to wait for any more rapid development of the international situation, and it will enable them to act independently and become an example of good regional interaction,” he added.

The Caspian Sea with a total surface area of 371,000 square kilometers is surrounded by five countries – Azerbaijan, Russia, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Iran.

The issue of determining the legal status of the Caspian Sea became relevant after the collapse of the USSR, when the emergence of new subjects of international law - Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan - raised the issue of delimitation of the Caspian Sea between the five littoral countries.

The difficulties in determining the status of the Caspian Sea are linked, in particular, with the recognition of it as a lake or sea, the delineation of which is regulated by different provisions of international law.

Russia, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan hold to the principle of dividing into national sectors based on the “median line” principles since it is an international boundary lake, and leaving the sea surface for general use, i.e. they are for demarcation of mineral resources and the Caspian Sea shelf, but against dividing up its waters.

Iran seeks an equal division of the Caspian into five even sectors, mainly because most of the offshore energy resources are located away from the Iranian coastline. Turkmenistan also demands division of the Sea into equal parts between the pre-Caspian countries so that each country must have 20 percent of the sea.

The status of the Caspian remains a key topic of discussions at the Caspian states’ summits. The leaders of the five countries met for the first time in 2002 in Ashgabat. The second Caspian summit was held in Tehran in 2007, the third one in Baku in 2010, and the fourth ­summit – in Astrakhan in 2014. The convention on the legal status of the sea is planned to be signed at the next summit.

URL: http://www.today.az/news/politics/166340.html

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