Caspian Summit

Last updated
Heads of State of Caspian littoral states made press statements at Aktau Summit, 12 August 2018 Heads of State of Caspian littoral states made press statements at Aktau Summit 6.jpg
Heads of State of Caspian littoral states made press statements at Aktau Summit, 12 August 2018

In the Soviet period, the Caspian Sea was practically an inland water basin within the Soviet Union's borders and washed off the coast of Iran only to the south. Until 1992, the status of the Caspian was regulated by the Soviet-Iranian treaties. After the collapse of the USSR, the emergence of the independent states of Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan raised the issue of dividing the Caspian Sea.

Contents

Although meetings with the representatives of the coastal states on how to settle the status of the Caspian Sea aimed to make a final decision, this was not possible, and there was a need to discuss the issue at the Summit. During these talks, the meeting held in Ashgabat on April 22–23, 2002 was of historical importance. The summit drew attention to 2 main aspects: 1) for the first time, the Caspian littoral states discussed the issues related to the Caspian Sea as a whole, and 2) for the first time, the Ashgabat summit included a search for a compromise between the heads of all coastal states on the status of the Caspian.

I Caspian Summit

On April 23–24, 2002, the first summit of the Caspian states was held in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan.

The Summit of the heads of Caspian littoral states with the participation of Presidents Heydar Aliyev (Azerbaijan), Saparmurat Niyazov (Turkmenistan), Mohammad Khatami (Iran), Nursultan Nazarbayev (Kazakhstan) and Vladimir Putin (Russia) was the first summit. At the closed meeting Russia, Azerbaijan, and Kazakhstan defended the sharing of offshore fields along the middle line and the shared use of the sea surface. On the other hand, Turkmenistan has created differences of opinion by supporting the argument of the division of the Caspian Sea. At the same time, the President of Turkmenistan reiterated that no one should use force in the Caspian Sea, incite conflicts or disputes, and all disputes should be resolved through negotiations. At this Summit, the heads of Caspian littoral states expressed their views on the legal status of the Caspian Sea for the first time. [1]

II Caspian Summit

The second summit of the Caspian littoral states was held in Tehran on October 16, 2007. At the end of the Summit a Declaration was signed by the heads of the Caspian littoral states. The Declaration consisted of 25 items. [2] [3]

The Declaration recorded that geopolitical and national developments and processes in the Caspian region" should be taken into account by Caspian littoral states. At the same time, the existing agreements between the five states and, therefore, the need to improve the legal regime of the Caspian Sea and to adopt the "Convention on the Legal Status of the Caspian Sea." was recorded. [4]

III Caspian Summit

The 3rd Caspian Summit was held on November 18, 2010, in Baku. The heads of Caspian littoral states signed an agreement on the cooperation on the security in the Caspian Sea. The document included the norms and principles of international law, independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity, inviolability of borders, non-use of force. Article 1 of the agreement states that the security of the Caspian Sea is the exclusive right of the littoral states. [5]

IV Caspian Summit

On September 29, 2014, the forth Caspian Summit was held in Astrakhan. The Caspian littoral states discussed the legal status, security, biological resources and environmental problems of the Caspian Sea.

At the end of the summit, presidents signed agreements covering the cooperation in the field of hydro-meteorology of the Caspian Sea, and on prevention and elimination of consequences of the Caspian Sea, protection and rational use of the Caspian Sea water resources. [6]

V Caspian Summit

The 5th Caspian Summit was held in Aktau in 2018. At this summit the parties signed a Convention on the Legal Status of the Caspian Sea. [7]

The document states that the waters of the Caspian littoral countries are 15 miles. The surface water is universal. However, most of the bio-resources of the Caspian Sea remain in common use. [8]

The presidents signed 8 documents including the Convention on the Legal Status of the Caspian Sea, the Protocol on Cooperation in Combating Terrorism in the Caspian Sea and other documents. These documents include cooperation on the fight against organized crime, economics and trade, transport, resolution of the conflicts, and border agencies. [9]

VI Caspian Summit

The 6th Caspian Summit was held in Ashgabat on June 29, 2022. The presidents of Russia, Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan discussed topical issues of cooperation in the Caspian Sea in relation to various spheres, as well as the implementation of resolutions made during the previous meetings of the heads of the Caspian “five”. [10]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shanghai Cooperation Organisation</span> Eurasian multilateral security organization

The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) is a Eurasian political, economic, International security and defence organization. It is the world's largest regional organization in terms of geographic scope and population, covering approximately 60% of the area of Eurasia, 40% of the world population, and more than 30% of global GDP.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Economic Cooperation Organization</span> Asian political and economic intergovernmental organization

The Economic Cooperation Organization or ECO is an Asian political and economic intergovernmental organization that was founded in 1985 in Tehran by the leaders of Iran, Pakistan, and Turkey. It provides a platform to discuss ways to improve development and promote trade and investment opportunities. The ECO is an ad hoc organisation under the United Nations Charter. The objective is to establish a single market for goods and services, much like the European Union. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the ECO expanded to include Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan in 1992.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trans-Caspian Gas Pipeline</span> Proposed subsea pipeline

The Trans-Caspian Gas Pipeline is a proposed subsea pipeline between Türkmenbaşy in Turkmenistan, and Baku in Azerbaijan. According to some proposals it would also include a connection between the Tengiz Field in Kazakhstan, and Türkmenbaşy. The Trans-Caspian Gas Pipeline project would transport natural gas from Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan to European Union member countries, circumventing both Russia and Iran. It would do this by feeding the Southern Gas Corridor. This project attracts significant interest since it would connect vast Turkmen gas resources to major consumers Turkey and Europe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Iran–Turkmenistan relations</span> Bilateral relations

Iran and Turkmenistan share a common border of more than 1000km. Since Turkmenistan's independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, the two countries have enjoyed good relations and have cooperated in economic, transportation, infrastructure development, and energy sectors. The two nations have strong historic ties.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Turkmenistan–United States relations</span> Bilateral relations

Turkmenistan – United States relations are bilateral relations between Turkmenistan and the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Russia–Turkmenistan relations</span> Bilateral relations

Russia–Turkmenistan relations are the bilateral relations between Russia and Turkmenistan. Russia has an embassy in Ashgabat and a consulate-general in Türkmenbaşy. Turkmenistan has an embassy in Moscow. In 1869 the modern-day Turkmenistani region became absorbed into the Russian Empire. After 1924 it became a Soviet Socialist Republic within the Soviet Union until declaring independence in 1991. The two nations have thus been mutually friendly for the past centuries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Caspian Sea</span> Worlds largest inland body of water, located in Eurasia

The Caspian Sea is the world's largest inland body of water, often described as the world's largest lake or a full-fledged sea. An endorheic basin, it lies between Europe and Asia; east of the Caucasus, west of the broad steppe of Central Asia, south of the fertile plains of Southern Russia in Eastern Europe, and north of the mountainous Iranian Plateau of Western Asia. It covers a surface area of 143,550 sq mi (372,000 km2) and a volume of 78,200 km3 (19,000 cu mi). It has a salinity of approximately 1.2%, about a third of the salinity of average seawater. It is bounded by Kazakhstan to the northeast, Russia to the northwest, Azerbaijan to the southwest, Iran to the south, and Turkmenistan to the southeast.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Azerbaijan–Kazakhstan relations</span> Bilateral relations

Foreign relations exist between Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan. Azerbaijan has an embassy in Astana and a consulate in Aktau. Kazakhstan has an embassy in Baku.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Organization of Turkic States</span> Eurasian intergovernmental organization

The Organization of Turkic States (OTS), formerly called the Turkic Council or the Cooperation Council of Turkic Speaking States, is an international organization comprising prominent independent Turkic countries: Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkey and Uzbekistan. It is an intergovernmental organization whose overarching aim is promoting comprehensive cooperation among Turkic-speaking states. First proposed by Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev in 2006, it was founded on 3 October 2009, in Nakhchivan. The General Secretariat is in Istanbul.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">International North–South Transport Corridor</span> Freight corridor, Moscow to Mumbai

The International North–South Transport Corridor (INSTC) is a 7,200-km-long multi-mode network of ship, rail, and road route for moving freight between India, Iran, Azerbaijan, Russia, Central Asia and Europe. The route primarily involves moving freight from India, Iran, Azerbaijan and Russia via ship, rail and road. The objective of the corridor is to increase trade connectivity between major cities such as Mumbai, Moscow, Tehran, Baku, Bandar Abbas, Astrakhan, Bandar Anzali, etc. Dry runs of two routes were conducted in 2014, the first was Mumbai to Baku via Bandar Abbas and the second was Mumbai to Astrakhan via Bandar Abbas, Tehran and Bandar Anzali. The objective of the study was to identify and address key bottlenecks. The results showed transport costs were reduced by "$2,500 per 15 tons of cargo". Other routes under consideration include via Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan.

Framework Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Caspian Sea is a regional convention signed by the official representatives of the five littoral Caspian states: Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Russian Federation and Turkmenistan in Tehran (Iran) on 4 November 2003. The Framework Convention, also called Tehran Convention, entered into force on 12 August 2006.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Railways Agency of Turkmenistan</span> Turkmen government agency

The Railways Agency of Turkmenistan (Turkmen: "Türkmendemirýollary" agentligi, previously the Ministry of Railways, is a government agency in Turkmenistan responsible for oversight of the state rail corporation "Demirýollary" AGPJ.

The Ashgabat agreement is a multimodal transport agreement between the governments of Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Iran, India, Pakistan, and Oman for creating an international transport and transit corridor facilitating transportation of goods between Central Asia and the Persian Gulf. The agreement came into force in April 2016. Ashgabat in Turkmenistan is the depository state for the agreement.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Borders of Azerbaijan</span> Political border

The Borders of Azerbaijan define the land and maritime borders of Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan has international land borders with 5 states.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Azerbaijan–Organization of Turkic States relations</span>

Relations between Turkic Council and Azerbaijan started from the year of 2009 until present. Taking into account of the establishment date of the organization, Azerbaijan continues relations as a member of the founding country.

The Convention on the legal status of the Caspian Sea is a treaty signed in Aktau, Kazakhstan, on 12 August 2018 by the presidents of Russia, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Iran and Turkmenistan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Caspian Economic Forum</span>

The Caspian Economic Forum is an international economic event aiming to provide a platform for discussion of the issues relating to the creation of conditions for large investment projects for littoral Caspian states. First Forum was held in Avaza, Turkmenistan. The key purpose of the Forum is to help to overcome the geographical and informational barriers for investments in the Caspian region.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Diplomacy of the Caspian littoral states</span>

Several states in the Caspian region, including the five littoral states of the Caspian Sea, namely the Islamic Republic of Iran, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, the Russian Federation, and the Republic of Azerbaijan use ad hoc diplomatic relations to build trust and goodwill as well as to boost the bargaining power of their governments.

References

  1. "Caspian Summit Increases Russia's Regional Power". jamestown.org. Archived from the original on 2019-01-09.
  2. "Analysis: Caspian meet and energy hopes". www.spacedaily.com. Archived from the original on 2014-08-11.
  3. "Iran wins Russian support at Caspian summit". www.euronews.com. Archived from the original on 2019-09-30.
  4. "Speech at the Opening of the Second Caspian Summit". kremlin.ru. Archived from the original on 2019-07-04.
  5. "The third Caspian Summit". www.kremlin.ru. Archived from the original on 2018-01-08.
  6. "Fourth Caspian summit kicks off in Astrakhan". trend.az. Archived from the original on 2014-10-01.
  7. "Factsheet: Caspian Summit". mfa.gov.kz. Archived from the original on 2019-02-13.
  8. "Landmark Caspian Sea deal signed by five coastal nations". www.theguardian.com. Archived from the original on 2018-08-12.
  9. "Five nations sign landmark deal on status of Caspian Sea". www.euronews.com. Archived from the original on 2018-08-17.
  10. "6th Caspian Summit". President of Russia. Retrieved 2022-06-30.

See also