Azerbaijan, Baku, 26 April / Trend M. Aliyev /
The regular, 33rd session of the Ad Hoc Working Group on the Convention on the Legal Status of the Caspian Sea at the level of deputy foreign ministers of the Caspian states will be held in the second half of September in Baku, the Deputy Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan Khalaf Khalafov informed reporters on Friday.
According to him, the decision was taken at a recent meeting of the working group in Tehran.
Much work was done in preparation of the draft Convention on the legal status of the Caspian Sea during the Tehran meeting of the working group on April 23-24, Khalafov said.
"The issues mentioned in the draft Convention are important for determination of the status of the sea. Some of the issues are discussed in a bilateral format. All outstanding matters should be discussed and agreed upon," the Deputy Minister said.
According to Khalafov, the Tehran meeting also discussed the ban on sturgeon fishing.
In general, some progress was achieved with regards to every issue, he added.
The littoral states (Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Russia, Turkmenistan and Iran) signed the Framework Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Caspian Sea in November 2003.
In July 1998, 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.
On November 29, 2001 and February 27, 2003, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan signed an agreement on the demarcation of the Caspian Sea.
Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan and Russia signed an agreement on the delimitation of adjacent sections of the Caspian Sea on May 14, 2003.