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PP RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHBI RUEHCI RUEHDBU RUEHDF RUEHIK RUEHLH RUEHLN
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DE RUEHAH #0995/01 2181121
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 061121Z AUG 09
FM AMEMBASSY ASHGABAT
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 3258
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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ASHGABAT 000995 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR SCA/CEN; EEB 
ENERGY FOR EKIMOFF/THOMPSON 
COMMERCE FOR HUEPER 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EPET PGOV EINV PBTS AZ TX
SUBJECT: TURKMEN GOVERNMENT'S ARGUMENTS IN THE CASPIAN 
BOUNDARY DISPUTE 
 
REF: ASHGABAT 947 
 
¶1.  (U) Sensitive but unclassified.  Not for public Internet. 
 
¶2.  (U) SUMMARY: On August 4, state-owned "Neutralniy 
Turkmenistan" newspaper published an MFA-authored article 
outlining Turkmenistan's arguments in its dispute with 
Azerbaijan on the Caspian Sea delimitation issue.  The article 
mentioned the international laws that the Turkmen government 
refers to in support of its position and specified the 
government's interpretation of those laws.  The analytical 
article followed-up President Berdimuhamedov's July 24 
statement regarding Turkmenistan's intention to take the 
Turkmen-Azeri Caspian boundary dispute to an international 
court of arbitration.  END SUMMARY. 
 
¶3.  (U) The article, titled "The Caspian: An Area for the 
Formulation of a New Architecture for Regional State 
Interaction," began with a long-winded statement of the 
historical context of this issue.  It provided a description 
of various documents, mostly related to navigation, fisheries, 
and the environment, that had been signed since the early 
1990s. 
 
¶4.  (U) The article continued with a statement of the Turkmen 
government's position on the Caspian delimitation issue, 
emphasizing the following arguments.  First, Turkmenistan 
believes that the delimitation of the seabed and subsoil of 
the Caspian Sea should be carried out by means of agreement 
between states having adjacent or opposite coasts.  Justifying 
this position, the Turkmen government referred to Section 1 of 
Article 6 of the 1958 Convention on the Continental Shelf, 
which among other things stipulates that "...the boundary of 
the continental helf ... shall be determined by agreement... 
In the absence of agreement, and unless another boundary line 
is justified by special circumstances, the boundary is the 
median line..."  On this basis, Turkmenistan considers it 
unacceptable to take any unilateral actions without agreement 
among the relevant littoral States defining their 
jurisdictions over specific sections of the seabed. 
 
¶5.  (U) Secondly, the delimitation of the Caspian seabed and 
subsoil should be carried out on the basis of the median line. 
International law provides a universally-recognized method of 
determining the median line, which is based on the principle 
of equidistance of its points from a coastal baseline. 
Although, according to the international practice, the median 
line is determined taking into account so-called "special 
circumstances" related to natural geographic unevenness of 
coastlines, the Turkmen government believes that "special 
circumstances" negatively impact the principle of justness of 
maritime boundary delimitation, which is "stipulated in the UN 
Convention on the Law of the Sea."  Based on the above- 
mentioned premises, the Turkmen government uses the following 
approach when conducting negotiations with Azerbaijan 
regarding the Caspian delimitation:  Delimitation of the 
Caspian seabed and subsoil should be carried out without 
taking into consideration Azerbaijan's Apsheron Peninsula and 
Zhiloy Island, which are "special circumstances" according to 
the international maritime law and, therefore, should not be 
considered when determining the median line. 
 
¶6.  (U) The article also praised President Berdimuhamedov's 
decision to take this issue to an international court of 
arbitration without specifying to which international court 
Turkmenistan would apply.  (reftel) 
 
¶7.  (SBU) COMMENT: The Turkmen Government's approach and 
 
ASHGABAT 00000995  002 OF 002 
 
 
arguments outlined above were likely developed by local 
lawyers, and, according to a local legal expert, Turkmenistan 
does not have skilled lawyers in the field of international 
maritime law (reftel).  As a result, the above arguments and 
approach might change when the Turkmen government engages 
international law experts on this issue, as instructed by 
President Berdimuhamedov. 
 
¶8.  (SBU) COMMENT CONTINUED: The article, which also appeared 
in the Turkmen-language "Turkmenistan" newspaper, seems to be 
intended for both foreign and domestic audiences and is part 
of a larger information campaign initiated by the Turkmen 
government inside the country.  Since President 
Berdimuhamedov's July 24 statement, the state-owned Altyn 
Asyr TV channel has aired at least two programs that explained 
Turkmenistan's stance on the Caspian delimitation issue.  One 
of the programs featured the Director of the State Agency for 
Management and Use of Hydrocarbon Resources Yagshygeldi 
Kakayev and Deputy Foreign Minister, Director of the State 
Service for Caspian Sea Issues Toyly Komekov, who obviously 
appeared on television per the President's instructions. 
END COMMENT. 
 
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