Caspian Sea, sea of peace, solidarity

Joint statement

Tehran, IRNA – Presidents of five Caspian littoral states in a joint statement announced that the Caspian Sea is the sea of peace, good neighborliness and effective international cooperation.

Caspian Sea, sea of peace, solidarity

The statement referred to a decision by the five heads of state to devise a mechanism for regular five-party consultation, led by foreign ministries of the sides at the level of deputies foreign ministers, representatives of the Caspian states to ensure effective implementation of the Caspian conventions and investigate various dimensions of the cooperation in the Caspian sea.

They agreed that the first rounds of the consultations should be held within maximum six months since inking of the convention.

As the first priority, the parties will prepare and agree on the draft of the agreement on the method of drawing direct source lines.

The sides also voiced strong pleasure over conclusion of agreements among the Caspian states on economic and trade cooperation and agreement among the littoral states on cooperation in transportation, which would consolidate and expand engagement among the states in industrial, trade, energy, transportation, logistics, innovation, tourism, information and other areas of interest.

They agreed that related institutions will hold regular meetings to implement the agreements.

The first economic seminar of the Caspian will be held in Turkmenistan in 2019.

The statement also announced significance of organizing regular five-party engagement of maritime management of the littoral states to ensure effective mutual agreement in sea transportation.

Among other provisions of the statement were inking an agreement for preventing incidents in the Caspian Sea, reached in the course of the summit to observe fundamental principles for engagement of the countries, respect territorial integrity and sovereignty and avoiding to harm each other's security, observe coordinated predictable and transparent confidence building measures in military domain in light of joint efforts so as to strengthen stability and security in the region.

The presidents emphasized meeting security interests of the littoral states, preparing and admitting coordinated confidence building measures in Caspian Sea for military activities in the Sea.

The presidents welcomed inking protocols for cooperation in fighting terrorism, organized crimes and cooperation and engagement of the border guard institutions, annexed to the agreement on cooperation in Caspian security, dated November 18, 2010, which would pave way for fighting real challenges and threats and neutralize illegal activities.

The Caspian leaders also noted Caspian environment protection and admitted that the most important outcome of Caspian Sea littoral states in signing protocol for assessing extraterritorial environmental effects in Caspian Sea, was the one signed in Moscow on July 20, 2018.

They also announced that the agreements for protection and optimal use of the live sea creatures and cooperation in warning emergency conditions and cooperation in water and weather that were signed in Astrakhan on September 29, 2014 should be binding.

They said implementation of the documents will help raise capability of protecting the Caspian Sea against natural disasters and human intervention, minimizing the risks for sea environment and biodiversity.

The presidents underlined finalization of the agreement on the protocol for campaign against smuggled fishing of live sea creatures per agreement on Caspian Sea security, signed on November 18, 2010.

They believed that it would conserve Caspian reserves and fight smuggled fishing.

Also, they urged completing the protocol for fighting illegal transfer of drugs, hallucinations and the ingredients.

The leaders also underlined the importance for development of the ecotourism in Caspian regarding abundant capacity of the sea and its coastlines in cultural, recreation, relaxation and medication grounds. Related institutions will hold consultations on Caspian tourism.

The presidents voiced support for activation of cooperation among the Caspian states in different forms, including contact on regional level, cultural exchanges, seminar of mass media, youth seminars and sports competitions.

They voiced confidence in further expansion of traditional cordial ties among all the littoral states, specially emphasizing that Caspian Sea is the sea of peace, solidarity, good neighborliness and effective international cooperation.

The next summit will be held in Turkmenistan at agreed time.

Iran, Azerbaijan, Russia, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan are the five Caspian Sea countries.