Turkmenistan, Ashgabat, June 30 /Trend A.Hasanov/
Acting Minister of Oil and Gas Industry and Mineral Resources of Turkmenistan Kakageldi Abdyllayev announced Turkmenistan's official position on the disputed oil fields in the Caspian Sea in an interview with state agency Turkmen Dovlet Khabarlary (TDH) on Friday evening.
The preface notes that in recent days Azerbaijani media outlets published statements of the country's officials, including "Industry and Energy Minister Natig Aliyev, regarding work on the Serdar (Kapaz) field conducted by Turkmenistan, which reflects a one-sided view of the Azerbaijani side and do not reflect the real situation on this matter".
In particular, Abdyllayev said that during Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhammadov's visit to Azerbaijan in 2008, no agreement was signed between the two countries. At the same time, Turkmenistan put forward specific initiatives to resolve the problem. "Unfortunately, these initiatives have not received a response from the Azerbaijani side," Turkmen minister said.
He also drew attention to the fact that "Turkmenistan has repeatedly called on Azerbaijan to stop work in the areas of the sea, jurisdiction of which has not been yet defined, namely in the fields of Omar and Osman" (Azeri and Chirag fields - in Azerbaijani).
The interview says that the work carried out by AIOC Consortium, in particular companies British Petroleum, Chevron, Exxon Mobile, Hess, Inpex, Itochu, Statoil, TPAO, SOCAR in areas with uncertain jurisdiction does not correspond to the norms of international law. "Seeking to hide their illegal actions in the disputed territories, the Azerbaijani side is trying to prove that it is right, at the same time violating the preliminary agreements," Abdyllayev said.
"In this situation, Turkmenistan has no choice, but to turn to the UN International Court," he said. In addition, the interview says that "the midline, determined in accordance with the principles and norms of international maritime law, but disputed by Azerbaijan is approximately near the meridian 51 degrees 10 minutes east longitude, respectively, the Serdar field is entirely in the Turkmen sector of the Caspian Sea, what Turkmenistan has repeatedly told the Azerbaijani side".
"The racket in the Azerbaijani media outlets, does not contribute to the strengthening of friendly relations between Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan, over which Turkmen side deeply regrets," Abdyllayev said in an interview with TDH.