Caspian Littoral States Agree to Disagree

nCa News and Commentary

Ashgabat, 21 June 2007 (nCa) --- After a day-long meeting of Caspian foreign ministers Wednesday in Tehran, it was evident that the littoral states have agreed to disagree for the time being.

The outcome of the meeting where the foreign ministers of Russia, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Iran and Azerbaijan participated was that no breakthrough on the core issue – the legal status of Caspian – was in sight by the end of the day.

Manouchehr Mottaki, foreign minister of Iran, said “We reached full understanding in a climate of friendship.”

Stepping down to a more pragmatic level, Mottaki said, “Consensus has not been reached over several key issues but there is great hope that views are converging and there will be a common agreement," Mottaki said at the meeting.

However, his elaborate reference to the soviet era agreements of 1921 and 1940 between Moscow and Tehran showed that Iran still prefers condominium approach to determine the legal status of Caspian whereas all other states seem inclined to treat Caspian as a sea with modified rules.

Sergei Lavrov, foreign minister of Russia, advocated a compromise interim solution. “In these conditions we need an intermediate document, which would introduce general acceptable for all rules of conduct at the Caspian,” he said.

He added, “The second Caspian summit could fix in its final declaration a number of important provisions on the status, which the parties have already coordinated during negotiations on the convention,” he added.

From the statements of Russian and Iranian foreign ministers it was evident that at least one more ministerial level meeting must take among the Caspian littoral states before the proposed summit this year.

Juxtaposing the re-energized US interest in the trans-Caspian oil and gas pipelines against the present policies of most of the Caspian states, it can safely be said that at present none of the littoral states except Azerbaijan would be in a hurry to resolve the legal status of Caspian.

In the unlikely event that the Caspian states reach consensus on the legal status of Caspian during the second presidential summit in Tehran later this year, it would certainly come with the over-rider that any projects involving the laying of pipelines across the Caspian bed must pass scrutiny from all the littoral states.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad met the Caspian foreign ministers at the end of the meeting. He said the countries enjoy common cultures, history, interests and foes, therefore, they should resolve initial issues in favor of regional welfare.

"Certain bullying powers are after oil and energy resources of the Caspian Sea, however, the environment and security of the sea have major impact on the life of the littoral states,” said Ahmadinejad.

The first Caspian summit was held in Ashgabat in April 2002. Although no tangible results emerged at the end of the first summit, it was a great achievement that the presidents of all the littoral states managed to meet under the same roof after ten years of break up of the Soviet Union. The group photograph of Caspian presidents at the end of Ashgabat summit shows that Geider Aliyev, late president of Azerbaijan, was leaning slightly away from the other presidents.

The Caspian countries signed a framework convention on protection of the sea environment in November 2003. However, the questions related to military navigation, fishing rights, right of foreign vessels to navigate in the Caspian, division of surface and seabed, tackling the security and terrorism threats, and a host of other issues still remain unsolved.

In July 1998, the agreements on delimitation of the sea bed of the northern part of the Caspian Sea were signed between Kazakhstan and Russia in order to provide for sovereign rights for use of the interior of the sea. In May 2002, the Protocol for these agreements was signed.On 29 November 2001 and 27 February 2003, agreements on delimitation of the bed of the Caspian Sea were signed between Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan. Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, and Russia signed an agreement on the junction point of the demarcation lines of the bed of the Caspian Sea on 14 May 2003.

A joint statement issued by the Caspian foreign ministers at the end of the meeting is cheerful but vague.

According to IRNA, the communiqué says:

"Participants at the conference included Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan Republic Elmar Muhamed Yarev, of Islamic Republic of Iran Manouchehr Mottaki, of Kazakhstan Murat Tazhin, of Russian Federation Sergei Lavrov, and of Turkmenistan Rashid Muradev.”

"At the end of the gathering, the esteemed President of the Islamic Republic of Iran received the foreign ministers of the littoral states of the Caspian Sea."

The communique adds, "The ministers exchanged viewpoints on legal system for the Caspian Sea, as well as the important regional and international security concerns.

"Special attention was paid to the issue of multilateral cooperation in Caspian Sea region, and it was agreed that this sea, must, as always in the past, remain the sea of peace, stability, and mutual cooperation, to serve the interests of entire littoral countries, based on good neighborly ties and friendship.

"The ministers surveyed the progress of preparations for the Second Summit of the Caspian Sea Littoral States in Tehran and agreed on the draft for the communique of that summit, to be reported to the presidents of the five countries.

"The time for holding the summit would be decided by the five presidents in the shortest possible time."

The Iranian side would propose the agenda for the summit that would have to be confirmed by the five presidents before the summit.

"The foreign ministers expressed certainty that the upcoming summit would incite new dynamism towards expansion of multilateral cooperation.

It is also reiterated at the communique, "The Ministers surveyed the process of preparing the Legal System, noting the achieved progress in the field during the elapsed period.

"The ministers also evaluated the process of the panta-lateral talks among the littoral states' deputy foreign minsters as positive, emphasizing that such gatherings need to continue.

"The ministers expressed satisfaction over being put to effect of the Tehran Convention of the Caspian Sea Ecosystem, asking for the ratification of its complementary protocols as soon as possible."