CASPIAN SEA SECURITY ISSUES UNDER DISCUSSION IN BAKU

Baku, October 22 (AzerTAc). A conference on security issues of the Caspian Sea started here with the participation of deputy foreign ministers of Azerbaijan, Russia, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Iran.
The agenda includes Caspian Sea`s ecology, protection of water resources, strengthening of transport and other economic projects.
The two day event will also discuss for the first time a draft agreement on ensuring security in the Caspian basin.
Opening the conference, Azerbaijan`s deputy foreign minister Khalaf Khalafov stressed the importance of the event in terms of discussing regional prospects for the complete determination of the Caspian Sea`s legal status.
According to Khalafov, the draft agreement was drawn up on the initiative of Azerbaijan and the division of the Caspian Sea water surface on the basis of norms of international law is one of the issues it included.
He noted the fact that the number of pro-Western projects on international cooperation have increased, allows regional countries to come to a common agreement.
Khalafov pointed out the main principles of mutual cooperation in the framework of the draft accord have already been agreed, adding today`s meeting is the first of the events to be held to that end.
He also expressed hope that the final draft will be obtained at the end of the meeting.
He said the last time security of the Caspian Sea was discussed at the summit held in 2007 in Tehran and so far a lot of work has been done in accordance with the decisions adopted there.