Turkmenistan, Ashgabat, June 24 / Trend H.Hasanov /
The question of the legal status of the Caspian Sea is pending, OSCE chairman Kanat Saudabayev said at the international conference on disarmament in Central Asia and the Caspian Basin today.
"We should not forget about the pending Caspian Sea status," he said.
The Caspian Sea countries are Azerbaijan, Russia, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Iran. The largest lake in the world has significant biological resources, as well as the world's oil and gas reserves. Moreover, the construction of a pipeline on the bottom of the reservoir, particularly the Trans-Caspian project could open up direct access to Europe to hydrocarbon potential of the Central Asia.
On dividing the bottom of the Caspian Sea, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Russia have no claims on one another's. There are both bilateral and trilateral agreements between these countries on the issue. The parties have also agreed to determine the coordinates of the dividing line. The issue is yet to be agreed with just two countries - Turkmenistan and Iran - due to which the status of the Caspian Sea has not yet been defined, despite many years of discussions.
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