Azerbaijan, Russia hold consultations on Caspian Sea in Baku
By Nigar Orujova
Another round of consultations on the Caspian Sea between Russia and Azerbaijan was held in Baku on Monday.
The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry reported that the meeting was attended by an Azerbaijani delegation headed by Deputy Foreign Minister Khalaf Khalafov and a Russian delegation headed by the special representative of the Russian president on the delimitation and demarcation of the state border with the neighboring countries, Foreign Ministry's ambassador-at-large, Igor Bratchikov.
The meeting discussed the items of draft Convention on the legal status of the Caspian Sea and cooperation in the Caspian Sea, including security issues, as well as other issues of mutual interest.
The sides noted the importance of bilateral consultations on Caspian Sea issues and the need to continue such negotiations.
Inseparable sea
A number of talks have been held in previous years to define the status of a salt-water lake. The Caspian Sea is surrounded by five states, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Russia, Turkmenistan and Iran.
The vague status causes pollution increase. Oil production and refining has adversely affected the environmental condition of the sea. According to the Iranian international scientific research institute, sturgeon fish stock, which is characteristic only for the Caspian Sea, has shrunk by 25-30 percent and if the situation does not change the sturgeons will perish in 2021.
Earlier in December, a protocol on the protection of Caspian Sea environment, which is a second such document signed after the adoption of the Tehran Convention, was adopted in Moscow.
The protocol aims to ensure the implementation of the convention signed in the Iranian capital in 2003. The protocol aims to prevent, reduce, control and eliminate pollution to the greatest extent and support environmentally friendly Caspian marine environment.
The Framework Convention was the first legally binding regional agreement signed by all the five Caspian littoral states, laying out general requirements and an institutional mechanism for environmental protection in the resource-rich Caspian region.
Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan signed agreements on the delimitation of the Caspian Sea on November 29, 2001 and February 27, 2003.
Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan and Russia signed an agreement on the delimitation of adjacent sectors of the Caspian on May 14, 2003.