The SWG was established during the first meeting of the five heads of the Caspian littoral countries in Ashghabad on April 24, 2002. Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Russia have signed bilateral agreements dividing Caspian seabed and almost solved the problem in the northern part of the sea. Turkmenistan up to date has no fixed position on this issue and changes it occasionally. Iran supports the condominium approach, the joint ownership of the resources of the Caspian Sea as the best alternative.

When opening the meeting, Azerbaijani minister of foreign affairs Vilayat Guliyev noted the closer positions of the littoral countries as a result of bilateral and multilateral negotiations. Had Turkmenistan and Iran joined the Azerbaijan-Russia, Azerbaijan-Kazakhstan and Russia-Kazakhstan agreements on division of the Caspian seabed, it would have positively impacted negotiations on the Sea status and adoption of a convention, Guliyev declared.

The core issue on the agenda was the ongoing discussion of the draft convention of the Caspian sea legal status. It was proposed to discuss 11 disputed items of the Convention. Altogether, it contains 22 items, half of which have already been agreed on. During the meeting, some positions on the items of the draft convention were successfully reconciled. At the meeting, an understanding was reached on particular issues concerning trade navigation, mechanisms to solve disputes and various areas for cooperation. The two-day meeting ended with a joint statement. Meanwhile, members of the working group have disagreements on several substantial issues, not only regarding division of the seabed, but also regarding water use and in particular navigation, the use and protection of biological resources, the environment, security, and the delimitation of state borders.

But as on prior occasions, the head of delegations positively assessed the result of the Baku meeting, emphasizing that this meeting made a positive input to achieving an agreement on the Caspian Sea legal status.

Mr. Khalafov noted that the two sides have agreed to continue work during the next meeting of the SWG. “The main problem while developing a draft convention and during bilateral negotiations still remains searching for a principle how to divide the sea. This is a cornerstone issue. The determination of the Caspian Sea’s legal status is a long term process requiring well thought out steps. The issue of the Caspian sea legal status determination must be solved via compromise and based on international law”.

He has also noted that the positions of Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan have recently moved closer. Azerbaijan-Turkmenistan bilateral negotiations on the Caspian Sea were discontinued more than a year ago, and have now been resumed. Khalafov said the negotiations on a median line principle of delimitation were ongoing.

Less diplomatic was the position of official Teheran. Iran claims 20% of the Caspian Sea for itself, refusing to accept the division of the Caspian Sea into five sectors based on the median line principle. Mr. Safari stated that Teheran will not recognize bilateral and trilateral agreements on the division of the Caspian sea, until the signing of a five-state multilateral agreement. Simultaneously the Iranian position is to continue bilateral consultations which could contribute to achieving common agreements among coastal countries. According to Safari, Iran stands for the demilitarization of the Caspian Sea. “The countries in the region should reach peace and stability without attracting third parties. The presence on the Caspian Sea of foreign military forces would inevitably aggravate the problem of the legal status.”

At a press conference for local media, the representative of Turkmenistan Hoshgeldi Babayev expressed satisfaction with the Baku consultations and hopes for successful work in future. Upon completion of the meeting, it was decided to hold the next SWG meeting at the end of May or the beginning of June in Kazakhstan. All Caspian countries supported Russia’s proposal to hold meeting of the heads of the foreign offices of Azerbaijan, Russia, Kazakhstan, Iran and Turkmenistan in Moscow on April 6-7 this year.

Speaking about the prospects of the next summit of the Heads of Caspian littoral countries planned to take place in Teheran, Russian special representative Kalyuzhny stated it would take place as agreed during the first summit in Ashgabat in 2002.