President of Kazakhstan announces ‘historic decision’ on the Caspian Sea
President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev said during the presentation of infrastructure of the Caspian port Kuryk that the adoption of the Convention on the Caspian Sea's Legal Status would be a historic decision. The Convention is expected to be signed at the summit which begins on August 12, Tengri News reports.
Nazarbayev said, “Over the past 20 years, we have been conducting very difficult negotiations, coordinated our positions to resolve all issues of our joint work on the Caspian Sea. These are shipping, resources, preservation of biological resources and trade cooperation between our countries. It’s a very important moment for all of us.”
Last Friday, the Kremlin’s press service reported that Kazakhstan’s Aktau will host the Fifth Caspian Summit on August 12. Presidents of Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Russia and Turkmenistan will determine the legal status of the Caspian Sea. The Commission has been working on the development of the convention since 1996. The water’s territorial sovereignty has been in dispute since the collapse of the USSR.
The draft convention will divide the bottom and depths of the Caspian Sea into sectors, and its water into internal and territorial waters, fishing zones and the shared water zone. The agreement will also determine the airspace borders over the Caspian Sea. In addition, the document will prohibit the presence in the Caspian Sea of any armed forces that don’t belong to any of the five countries flanking it.