Caspian Sea Convention: the settlement of the longlasting dispute and its implications
Caspian Sea Convention: the settlement of the longlasting dispute and its implications

Summary/Abstract: In 2018 five Caspian states – Iran, Russia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Turkmenistan reached a consensus on the legal status of the Caspian Sea. The governments of the respective countries have settled the long-lasting disagreement by specifying the Caspian Sea as a sea with a “special legal status.” This paper argues that despite the existing disputes in the southern part of the Caspian Sea, which were not addressed in the new agreement, the adoption of the convention is a huge achievement for all littoral states. Russia and Iran have achieved their security interests by banning the military presence of non-Caspian states, while Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan have received a green light to construct a Trans-Caspian pipeline to EU from Turkmenistan, allowing Turkmen gas to circumvent Russia. Kazakhstan with the largest coastline and the biggest offshore oilfields located in the North of the Caspian has secured its sea borders stipulated by the earlier bilateral and trilateral agreements with Russia and Azerbaijan and can expand its oil exports that are presently constrained to China and Russia.

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