Caspian Sea status to be discussed in Ashgabat: Azerbaijani deputy FM

"We have an agreement with the Iranian side on the legal status of the Caspian Sea and its bottom section, and we hope that a consensus will also be reached with Turkmenistan. On November 5-6, Ashgabat will host discussions on the status of the Caspian Sea," Khalafov said to press conference on the results of the meeting on security in the Caspian region.

On Oct. 23-24, Baku hosted the meeting of deputy foreign ministers of the Caspian littoral states to discuss security in the Caspian region.

Khalafov said the issue that the status of the Caspian Sea has not yet been defined does not prevent the Caspian countries from implementing other projects to ensure security in the Caspian Sea.

"Projects that are currently being implemented in the environmental and transport sectors, the cooperation of border services and interior agencies improve welfare of the peoples living in the Caspian countries," said Khalafov.

Answering the question whether this project will provide an opportunity to reduce armaments of the Caspian countries, Khalafov said that "it is the sovereign right of states, and we can cooperate on this issue only to ensure safety."

Safety issues should be decided only by five Caspian littoral states, but we support international cooperation on security, he said.

/Trend News/