Turkmenistan to sue Azerbaijan at the international court over the Caspian Sea

PanARMENIAN.Net - President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdymuhamedov ordered to address the international experts and high-degree lawyers to learn the Azerbaijan's claims over the disputed fields in the Caspian Sea and legality of the foreign oil-gas companies' operation in those fields and then to send the documents to the International Court of Arbitration.



According to APA, the president ordered to the vice prime minister and foreign minister Rashid Meredov to address this issue. Chairman of the State Office for the Caspian Issues under the President Toyli Komekov informed the cabinet about the results of Turkmenistan-Azerbaijan negotiations over the sharing of Caspian depth and resources held in Baku on July 15-17.



The cabinet noted that despite the Turkmenistan's efforts no consensus was reached on this issue because of disputes between Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan over the oil-gas fields in the central part of the Caspian Sea. After hearing the report, President Berdymuhamedov said that the Caspian problems, concretely the coordination of the principles of Caspian delimitation, sharing of its depth and resources were urgent issues for the country.



Touching upon the history of the negotiations, the president said special position of Azerbaijan, which claimed to the disputed fields of Omer and Osman, as well as Sardar, called before as "Araliq", delayed the decision agreed by both sides. He said normative acts approved by the relevant ministries and offices in the USSR period showed these fields within the territory of Turkmenistan. "Such unilateral actions in the Caspian, particularly exploration of the fields without the agreement of the interested parts are unacceptable for Turkmenistan. Based on the principles of the international cooperation, Turkmenistan brought the disputed territories on the agenda of the Turkmen-Azerbaijani negotiations, but there was no agreement. The existent situation is delaying the exploitation of the natural resources of the Turkmen shelf of the Caspian, implementation of the important programs for the economic development of the region and protection of the environmental welfare of the sea and coastal areas".



The president stated that Turkmenistan doesn't claim to the territory of anyone and always supports fair sharing and delimitation of the legal and sea borders of the unique lake according to the international experience, APA reports.