Caspian States to Mull Ownership, Security of Sea

When heads of states of the five countries around the Caspian Sea gather in the Azerbaijani capital Baku on November 18, they will inevitably discuss the question of who owns what part of the inland sea, which they have been unable to resolve since the Soviet Union broke up.

However, the summit will also result in a new agreement committing the littoral states – Russia, Kazakstan, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan and Iran – to cooperate on maritime security.

NBCentralAsia experts say the agreement will cover issues like counter-terrorism, organised crime, arms and drug smuggling, illegal migration, nuclear proliferation, and the seizure of ships. A joint executive body will be established to oversee the operation of the agreement.

The summit is unlikely, though, to achieve a breakthrough on Caspian ownership. Russia, Kazakstan and Azerbaijan have more or less agreed that the sea should be divided into chunks separated by a median line, Turkmenistan wants to ensure their methodology does not deprive it of offshore oil deposits to which it lays claim. Iran, meanwhile, is unhappy about the median line division, which would give it less than an equal one-fifth share.

This article was produced as part of IWPR’s News Briefing Central Asia output, funded by the National Endowment for Democracy.