The Caspian Sea has acquired a Convention on legal status

The Convention on the legal status of the Caspian Sea adopted by the leaders of the Caspian States has solved the main issues that worried the regional states, RISS expert Azhdar Kurtov pointed out. "For example, the delimitation of the Caspian Sea bottom was a serious problem in the 90-s. In 1998, the thesis statement was "We divide the sea bottom, and the water remains as a public resource." But not everyone agreed with this thesis," he said. However, the idea of the Caspian Sea dividing has become gradually more prevalent. At the same time, the water will remain as a public resource. "Now this statement has formed the basis of the signed Convention," he said.

In expert's opinion, a major diplomatic achievement is that the right to stay in the Caspian Sea is exclusively a prerogative of the armed forces of the coastal countries. The USA and its NATO allies have a vital national interest in the possibility of the presence of their armed forces in the Caspian sea. Russia and Iran were trying to prevent such a possibility. Now the Convention clearly states that only the armed forces of the coastal countries can be deployed in the Caspian sea," the expert said.

He added that the issues regarding the delimitation of the Caspian Sea are yet unresolved in the Convention. The issue of division of sectors between Iran, Azerbaijan, and Turkmenistan will be solved at the discretion of these countries. A.Kurtov believes that the good provisions set forth in the Convention will allow the Caspian sea to develop quite effectively in the future.

 

Convention