| We managed without Turkmenistan Yesterday the first interstate document on the Caspian Sea was signed in Tehran. This happened ten years after the start of negotiations between the five Caspian countries. But, firstly, it has nothing to do with the essence of the problem, the status of the sea; this is so far only a framework Convention on the protection of the Caspian environment. And secondly, the document was signed only by Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan and Russia. Although Turkmenistan sent a representative to the Iranian capital, it did not provide him with the authority to sign the convention. Until the last moment of the two-day negotiations, “the Turkmen delegation was waiting for the sanction of Turkmen President Saparmurat Niyazov to sign the convention,” said the head of the Russian delegation, Deputy Minister of Natural Resources Ivan Glumov.
The very presence of Turkmen colleagues in Tehran, according to Mr. Glumov, “is great progress”: “The main thing is that Turkmenistan, which previously resisted this process (preparation of the environmental Convention - Ed .), can sign this document.”
This is indeed extremely important, since without Ashgabat joining the convention it will not enter into legal force. And if the Turkmen signature on the document does not appear within a year, then the result of many years of work by the Caspian negotiators will be sad - there will be no convention in its current form at all.
UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has already congratulated by name all the Caspian five, without exception, “who have taken responsibility for preserving the largest lake on the planet, with important progress forward in the region.” So far there has been no news from Ashgabat whether Turkmenbashi took these congratulations personally or whether he has already avoided this “responsibility”, once again referring to the “neutrality of Turkmenistan recognized by the UN.” This kind of diplomatic conflict looks funny. To get out of it with dignity, Ashgabat has only one option - to urgently find a “technical” explanation for the Tehran incident and then join the convention.
Other “Caspian” capitals highly appreciate the significance of the Tehran Convention. Iranian President Khatami believes that states in the region "will take their environmental protection obligations more seriously." Now there is hope that the amount of industrial waste dumped into the Caspian Sea will decrease, because due to the terrible pollution of the water there, hundreds of rare Caspian seals have already died and about 200 unique species of plants and animals are under threat. According to Ivan Glumov, “the convention will become a springboard for moving forward in solving other problems in the region, primarily the legal status of the Caspian Sea.” In just a month, the next, 12th meeting of a special working group on this problem at the level of deputy foreign ministers of five countries will take place in Tehran. Arkady DUBNOV |
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