Attended by the leaders of Russia, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan and Iran, the Caspian Countries President Summit signed the Caspian Sea Agreement.
President of Iran Hassan Rouhani, President of Russia Vladimir Putin, President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev, President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguli Berdimuhamedov signed the document setting the status of the Caspian Sea.
Speaking before the sing ceremony, President of the host Kazakhstan Nazarbayev said that the leaders are participants in a historic event.
Noting that it was difficult to reach a consensus on the status of the Caspian Sea and that it lasts for a long time, Nazarbayev recalled that the talks lasted for more than 20 years.
Putin also pointed out that the agreement was a "groundbreaking development" and called for more military cooperation between the neighboring countries to the Caspian Sea.
Rouhani also said that the agreement is an 'important document', but he pointed out that he did not fully point out the disagreements about the Caspian Sea.
He also welcomed the fact that countries without a border to the Caspian could not deploy military units to the region. "The Caspian Sea belongs only to the Caspian states," he added.
The content of the agreement
It is agreed that the Caspian Sea's rich oil and natural gas reserves will be opened for further exploitation, the surface will be used jointly, and countries without coasts to the Caspian will not be allowed to conduct military activities in the region.
Accordingly, fisheries, maritime, scientific research activities and pipeline laying will be arranged according to the rules of agreement in which the parties agree.
Regions up to 15 nautical miles from the shore will be treated as the land of each country. A total of 25 miles will be set as the fishing area of each country by adding 10 nautical miles to this distance. The other parts will be open, neutral zones for common use.
The delegation of the Caspian will be divided into regions between the countries side by side and be facing, according to the controversy, which states that the coastal states have equal conditions for the five states, including the business association principles and legal responsibilities.
It is estimated that about 50 billion barrels of oil and 9 trillion cubic meters of natural gas reserves are in the Caspian.
ILKHA