Azerbaijan’s strategy to turn Caspian Sea into sea of ??security, co-op won - expert

By  Trend

Purposeful activity of Azerbaijani diplomacy has become decisive in defining the legal status of the Caspian Sea, editor-in-chief of the Baki Khabar newspaper Aydin Guliyev said.

He said that the fruitful work in this direction began in the mid-1990s and was based on continuous and concrete principles.

“Azerbaijan and President Ilham Aliyev personally played a decisive role in bringing the question of the legal status of the Caspian Sea to an active discussion and successfully conclude the negotiations after many years,” Guliyev said.

Guliyev noted that the Convention on the Status of the Caspian Sea is one of the achievements of Azerbaijani diplomacy in providing a “golden mean in the relations” of the Caspian littoral states, which is a source of pride.

“There have been attempts to sow discord among the Caspian littoral states, to turn the Caspian Sea into an open arena for the military forces of countries not related to this sea, not only five Caspian littoral states, but also close countries to a certain extent wanted to join the processes around the Caspian Basin,” he said. “Azerbaijan played a major role in the destruction of these plans, which were a source of threat in the region. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Azerbaijan made decisive efforts in preserving the Caspian Sea as a security arena and cooperation. The words of President Ilham Aliyev that the presence of military forces and military activities in the Caspian Sea should be carried out on the basis of the principles of ensuring equal security conditions for all the Caspian littoral states will remain as a special thesis in the history of all processes leading to the signing of the convention.”

Guliyev said that Azerbaijani diplomacy created an even firmer guarantee of sustainable peace and security in the Caspian region and said that a new era of large transit, transport and logistical opportunities of Azerbaijan along the North-South and East-West corridors is now beginning.

Guliyev believes that all the resources of the Caspian Sea will be fully accessible for use in the name of the well-being of peoples. He said that Azerbaijan’s strategy to turn the Caspian Sea into a sea of ??security and cooperation has won.

On August 12, Kazakh city of Aktau hosted the ceremony of signing documents on the legal status of the Caspian Sea at the 5th summit of heads of the Caspian littoral states.

The Convention on the Legal Status of the Caspian Sea was signed by President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev, President of Russia Vladimir Putin, President of Iran Hassan Rouhani and President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov.