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WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
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Turkmenistan
Index
An important goal of Turkmenistan's foreign policy is working in
international groups to solve a range of issues involving the Caspian Sea.
That body of water, which affords Turkmenistan a 500-kilometer coastline
with numerous natural resources, including oil and fish, is threatened by
extreme levels of pollution, as well as fluctuating water levels. In
August 1993, Turkmenistani delegates attended a meeting in Moscow to
discuss the status of international claims to jurisdiction over the
Caspian Sea and its resources. Treaties between the Soviet Union and Iran
dating from 1921 and 1940 gave each country free navigation and fishing
rights within ten miles (sixteen kilometers) of the entire Caspian
coastline, putting other coastal nations at a disadvantage. A second issue
is the cartel formed by Turkmenistan, Kazakstan, Russia, Azerbaijan, and
Iran to control sales of Caspian caviar on the world market as a means of
preventing individual Caspian Sea states from selling too much to obtain
hard currency. Thus far, however, the cartel lacks an enforcement
mechanism. Turkmenistan is a member of the Caspian Sea Forum, which
includes all the nations bordering the sea. Until 1995 that organization
had not taken concrete action to limit pollution by oil extraction and
shipping activities of the member countries, however. In late 1994,
Turkmenistan joined Kazakstan, Azerbaijan, and Russia in forming the
Caspian Border Patrol force for joint border security (see Military
Doctrine, this ch.). In 1995 and 1996, friction increased among the
Caspian states as Iran and Russia exerted pressure for the sea's resources
to be divided equally among the group, a formula that would pervent the
other three countries from taking advantage of their proximity to rich
offshore oil deposits.
Data as of March 1996
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