Caspian legal status to be discussed in Baku

The next meeting of the Special Working Group is expected to be held in Baku, Azerbaijan’s deputy foreign minister Khalaf Khalafov told the journalists.

The Caspian littoral states made new proposals and compromised on the wording of some provisions of the draft convention on the legal status of the sea.

As is stated, Deputy foreign ministers of the five Caspian littoral states -- Iran, Kazakhstan, Russia, Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan - attended the session of the working group held in Tehran on April 23-24.

The heads of delegations presented their countries' positions on key elements of the legal status of the Caspian Sea and various aspects of maritime cooperation during the meeting.

Khalaf Khalafov said the 33rd session of the Special Working Group at the level of the deputy foreign ministers will be held in Baku.

Khalafov said that the major part of work on drafting convention was made during the Tehran meeting.

“The issues marked in the convention are important to define the sea status. Some of them are considered in the bilateral mode. All the unsolved issues should be discussed and coordinated,” he said.

Mutual understanding was reached at the meeting on presenting the mapping schemes for further extensive discussion at the next meeting of the Special Working Group.

The sides noted the positive results of the 32nd meeting of the Special Working Group and the need to maintain the pace of negotiations to intensify the coordination of the draft on the legal status of the Caspian Sea.

The five Caspian littoral states signed the Framework Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Caspian Sea in November 2003.
In July 1998, Russia and Kazakhstan signed an agreement on the delimitation of the northern part of the Caspian Sea.

On Nov. 29, 2001 and Feb. 27, 2003, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan signed an agreement on the delimitation of the Caspian Sea.

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


/AzerTAc/