Caspian Sea security problem related to its legal status
By Daniyar Mukhtarov
The uncertainty of the legal status of the Caspian Sea doesn't allow to effectively fight drug trafficking and crime there, the head of the Department of International Law and International Relations of the Kazakh Humanitarian Law University, Doctor of Laws Miras Daulenov said.
"The issue of security rests in the fact whether the state has any intention to take legal obligations to share the responsibility for security in the region," said Daulenov during Astana-Moscow-Baku video-conference on "Problems of security in the Caspian Sea in the light of possible risks and threats.
"Since the status of the Caspian Sea is not defined, the question arises, who is responsible and for which part," he said.
Daulenov said the heads of the Caspian states could strike a new agreement or make an amendment to the existing agreement in order to provide the area of responsibility, as the current uncertainty in these matters creates favorable conditions for traffickers and other offenders.
"We would like to contact our partners in order to be open and develop a consolidated position on security," the expert said. "It may take a long time to resolve problems, but there are existing threats. If we do not develop a consolidated position and do not offer specific mechanisms, as well as responsibility, there can be no security. I hope that the state still will seek to develop specific mechanisms."
Coastal states (Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Russia, Turkmenistan and Iran) signed the framework convention for the protection of the marine environment of the Caspian Sea in November 2003.
In July 1998, Russia and Kazakhstan have signed an agreement on the delimitation of the northern part of the Caspian Sea in order to implement sovereign rights for subsoil use, and the protocol to this agreement was signed May 2002.
Agreements on the delimitation of the Caspian Sea between Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan and the protocol were signed November 29, 2001 and February 27, 2003 respectively.
Also, an agreement on the delimitation of adjacent sections of the Caspian Sea was signed by Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan and Russia May 14, 2003.