ASSA-IRADA,
8, February 2008

The Azerbaijani government has assessed the latest three-day round of talks with Turkmenistan on the legal status of the Caspian Sea.

The discussions proceeded "in the conditions of friendship and mutual understanding," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

The Turkmen side welcomed the outcomes of discussions as well. Both sides expressed confidence that progress achieved in talks would contribute to reaching general agreement on the status issue.

The delegation comprising experts from the Central Asian state met with their Azerbaijani counterparts in Baku to mull the division of the sea-bed along the medium line. Azerbaijan was represented at the talks by Deputy Foreign Minister Khalaf Khalafov, while Turkmenistan - by his counterpart Khoshgaldi Babayev.

The talks covered a wide range of issues on determining the location of the divider. The experts researched relevant maps and software. It was also agreed that the next meeting of the joint taskforce will be held in Ashgabat.

Although both countries support the division of the sea-bed along the medium line, differences on the location of the divider remain. In particular, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan still have divergent views on the affiliation of the Kapaz (Sardar) oil field, whose estimated reserves amount to some 100 million tons of oil. Tensions rose between Baku and Ashgabat in the late 1990s, causing a halt in negotiations on the status issue. However, the discussions resumed after a recent change of power in the Central Asian state.

Azerbaijan, Russia and Kazakhstan have already signed bilateral agreements on the Caspian status, while Iran has insisted that the status be determined based on the agreements it signed with the Soviet Union decades ago.