Azerbaijan, Baku, September 10 / Trend V. Zhavoronkova /
The informal summit in Aktau (Kazakhstan), in which Azerbaijani, Russian, Turkmen and Kazakh presidents will participate, is important to intensify regional cooperation, Russian expert on the CIS countries and Central Asia, Stanislav Pritchin, said.
Azerbaijani, Russian, Turkmen and Kazakh presidents will take part in the upcoming informal summit in Aktau on Saturday. Participants of the meeting are expected to exchange views on a whole range of issues, but any documents are not planned to be approved.
"The positive aspect of the summit is intensification of the Caspian countries' cooperation within the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS)," independent political scientist, Pritchin, told Trend .
This form of cooperation, when the presidents meet informally and without Iranian President, will be first used at this summit, "Independent Newspaper" commentator, Pritchin, said.
Totally, in the Caspian region there were two summits at the top level in Ashgabat and Tehran.
Pritchin said that Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Russia are not represented together except CIS.
The economic component does not play an important role in the CIS, political scientist said.
"If we manage to create the Caspian economic cooperation organization, it will be the first organization, in which Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan will participate. It will help to solve economic issues, for example, concerning Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan. It is a platform for cooperation," Pritchin said.
However, Iran has already expressed its dissatisfaction with conducting of the summit.
Determination of the status of the Caspian Sea is an important issue for all the Caspian countries.
Any decision on the legal status of the Caspian Sea requires the consensus of all Caspian countries, otherwise it will be unacceptable, Iranian special representative on Caspian Sea affairs, Mehdi Safari, said after Kazakhstan announced about its intention to hold the summit.
Pritchin said that it is completely thought-out strategy of Russia and Kazakhstan, which were initiators of the meeting.
He said that it was made to encourage Iran to adopt a sectoral principle of dividing the Caspian Sea, because Iran actively oppose it.
"I hope that this format of the meeting will enable Iran to compromise on the Caspian Sea as far as possible by using mild psychological pressure," expert said.
Pritchin said that the summit is also very important in terms of relations between Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan, as the presidents of both countries will meet at an informal meeting.
The Presidents are also planned to visit Turkmenistan after Aktau upon the invitation of Turkmen President Berdimuhamedov.
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