The Caspian Sea, which is the size of Germany, is often referred to as the natural marking point between Europe and Asia. It is extremely rich in natural resources: According to estimates, about 18 billion tons of hydrocarbons are contained in its seabed. The sea’s biological resources are also rich as about 80 percent of the world’s sturgeon catch comes from the Caspian Sea. As a result, oil and caviar, also known as “black gold,” make the Caspian Sea the subject of territorial disputes between neighboring countries.
The Caspian Sea, which is the size of Germany, is often referred to as the natural marking point between Europe and Asia. It is extremely rich in natural resources: According to estimates, about 18 billion tons of hydrocarbons are contained in its seabed. The sea’s biological resources are also rich as about 80 percent of the world’s sturgeon catch comes from the Caspian Sea. As a result, oil and caviar, also known as “black gold,” make the Caspian Sea the subject of territorial disputes between neighboring countries.
During the Soviet period, the sea was shared between the Soviet Union and Iran. After the collapse of the USSR, the independent states that emerged — Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan — also claimed ownership over parts of the Sea. For more than 20 years these five littoral states have been unable to agree on a legal framework governing the use and development of the Caspian’s natural resources.
From time to time disputes escalate. In July 2001 Iranian military boats confronted an Azeri research vessel in the Caspian Sea. Although the Azeris stated that they were exploring their sector of the Caspian, the Iranians ordered the ship to vacate the area, claiming the waters which the ship was exploring remain in dispute.
These states continue to discuss the following issues: (1) Whether, in the absence of a new legal convention, treaties signed between the former Soviet Union and Iran in 1921 and 1940 on the status of the Caspian Sea are still in force and thereby govern current development rights; and (2) Whether the Caspian is subject to the International Convention on the Law of the Sea. If the rules of the International Convention on the Law of the Sea are applied, full maritime boundaries of these five states bordering the Caspian would be established based upon an equidistant division of the sea and undersea resources into national sectors. However, if the Convention on the Law of the Sea is not applied, the Caspian and its resources would be developed jointly, a division referred to as the “condominium” approach. A legal framework to resolve environmental and biological issues is also needed as several countries have opposed the laying of proposed trans-Caspian oil and gas pipelines on environmental grounds.
A working group of representatives from each country was created to draw up a joint declaration on the new legal status of the Caspian Sea, but the group failed to make progress on settling differences. One of the reasons for this failure is that some states change positions regarding the Caspian based on their internal political situation.
For example, in 1993 Turkmenistan signed an agreement with foreign companies on the development of the offshore field Cheleken in the eastern part of the Caspian Sea, unilaterally declaring its ownership rights on this field. Two years later, Turkmenistan started to support the Russian and Iranian position, according to which the principle of the condominium (common use of the sea) should be applied until the littoral states finally agree on the legal status of the Caspian Sea. However, in 1996, Turkmenistan started to support Azerbaijan’s position, which insisted on sectoral division of the Sea. After a year, Turkmenistan came to an agreement with Azerbaijan to divide the seabed in accordance with the principles of the median line, but they have been unable to agree on the point from which the median line should be measured.
In September 2014, at the fourth Caspian Sea summit in the Russian city of Astrakhan, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that he is hopeful that an agreement on the legal status of the Caspian Sea can be adopted at the next summit of the sea’s five littoral states, presumably in a few years. The same hopes had been expressed at the end of the 2010 Summit in the Azerbaijani capital of Baku. Experts find it difficult to predict when the final form of the convention could be completed, due to the question of maritime border demarcation. It seems that these sluggish negotiations between five authoritarian regimes, where decisions are subject to fluctuations depending on the mood of the ruler of each of them, will continue for a very long time.
