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Convention on Caspian Sea status may come out next year

28 October 2016 17:12 (UTC+04:00)
Convention on Caspian Sea status may come out next year

By Gunay Hasanova

Moscow keeps optimism regarding the next meeting of Caspian littoral states to discuss the legal status of the sea in Kazakhstan’s capital Astana.

Russia expects a convention on the legal status of the Caspian Sea to be signed at the fifth Caspian Summit in Astana in summer of 2017, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said.

He made the remarks on October 28 during a meeting with Foreign Minister of Iran Mohammad Javad Zarif in Moscow, RIA Novosti reported.

Earlier, Moscow said a convention on the Caspian legal status can be inked in early 2017.

The Caspian Sea is the biggest enclosed body of water on Earth, with enormous deposits of oil and gas as well as rich fisheries. It plays an important role in the transport corridors, along with being an important part of the international and regional projects.

The legal status has been remained unsolved during the past two decades, preventing development and exploitation of its disputable oil and gas fields and creating obstacles to the realization of major energy projects.

Negotiations related to the demarcation of the Caspian Sea have been going on for nearly a decade now among the littoral states bordering the Caspian. The major issues cover the access to the mineral resources (oil and gas), access for fishing, and access to international waters.

Azerbaijan proposes that the Caspian Sea must be divided into national sectors based on the “median line” principles since it is an international boundary lake.

In turn, Iran and Turkmenistan oppose Azerbaijan’s position considering that the Caspian Sea must be divided into equal parts between the pre-Caspian countries so that each country must have 20 percent of the sea.

The five Caspian states signed a Framework Convention for Protection of Marine Environment of the Caspian Sea in November 2003.

Russia and Kazakhstan signed an agreement on the delimitation of the northern part of the Caspian seabed in order to exercise sovereign rights for subsoil use in July 1998. The two countries signed a protocol to the agreement in May 2002.

Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan signed an agreement on the delimitation of the Caspian seabed and a protocol to it on November 29, 2001, and February 27, 2003, respectively.

Additionally, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, and Russia signed an agreement on the delimitation of adjacent sections of the Caspian Sea on May 14, 2003.

Once all Caspian states ratify the Agreement on Security Cooperation in the Caspian Sea, signed in Baku in 2010, a new impetus will be given for close cooperation between the sides.

Up to now, the summits of the Caspian countries heads have been held in Ashgabat in 2002, Tehran in 2007, Baku in 2010 and Astrakhan in 2014.

Significant progress has been achieved in drafting a convention on the legal status of the Caspian Sea in September 2014.

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Gunay Hasanova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @gunhasanova

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz

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