Baku, Azerbaijan, March 4
By Seba Aghayeva - Trend:
Azerbaijan is committed to resolving the issue of the Caspian Sea status as part of the sovereign and mutually beneficial partnership of all Caspian littoral countries, Azerbaijani Deputy Foreign Minister Khalaf Khalafov said at the 39th meeting of the expert group on the Caspian Sea legal status determination.
The representatives of all five Caspian littoral countries attend the meeting in Baku.
"The third Caspian summit held in Baku in 2010 gave a new impetus to address the main issues on the Caspian Sea status," Khalafov said. "In particular, these issues relate to the common approaches to coordinate the delimitation of the relevant water areas and the protection of biological marine resources."
"An important document regulating the activity of the Caspian-littoral countries was adopted in Astrakhan at the same summit in 2014," Khalafov said.
He said that Azerbaijan has already completed the intestate procedures to approve the agreements made at the Astrakhan summit.
"I am confident that the principles agreed by the presidents in Astrakhan will be taken into account while negotiating the draft convention," Khalafov said.
He stressed the importance of mutual trust between the sides, in particular, the regional stability, security and economic activity in the Caspian Sea.
Khalafov stressed the need for stability in the Caspian Sea taking into account the interests of all sides and undiminished security of each other.
"The issues related to the strengthening of international cooperation, improving of the investment climate, developing and transporting of energy resources to the international markets are among the priorities of the coastal countries," Khalafov said. "Creating of the safe communications and increasing of the number of highly profitable and environmentally friendly technologies are also among them."
The Caspian Sea littoral states signed a Framework Convention for the Protection of Marine Environment of the Caspian Sea in November 2003.
Russia and Kazakhstan signed an agreement on the delimitation of the northern part of the Caspian Sea in order to exercise sovereign rights for subsoil use in July 1998. The two countries signed a protocol to this agreement in May 2002. Moreover, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan signed an agreement on the delimitation of the Caspian Sea and a protocol to it on Nov. 29, 2001 and Feb. 27, 2003, respectively.
Additionally, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan and Russia signed an agreement on the delimitation of adjacent sections of the Caspian Sea on May 14, 2003.
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