Military actions in Caspian Sea 'absolutely unacceptable,' says Turkmen leader

Military actions in the Caspian Sea are "absolutely unacceptable," as such actions run counter to years of efforts by littoral states to strengthen security, said Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, national leader of the Turkmen People and chairman of the Halk Maslahaty of Turkmenistan, on Monday.

The Convention on the Legal Status of the Caspian Sea, signed in 2018 by Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Iran and Russia, remains the cornerstone of regional stability, he said.

Berdimuhamedov noted that the document clearly stipulates that no military forces of non-Caspian states may be stationed in the region and that countries without access to the Caspian Sea are prohibited from conducting military activities there.

Turkmenistan is studying a draft joint statement by Caspian littoral states to prevent the spillover of armed conflict from the Middle East into the Caspian region, he said.