Turkmenistan is an active participant in drawing up international legal documents on the determination of the Caspian Sea status, the statement says. At the same time, Turkmenistan, being a supporter of delimitation of the Caspian seabed and resources on the basis of international-legal norms, has consistently urged to carry out the delimitation on the basis of principle of median line according to universally accepted international norms and laws. The bed and resources of the Caspian Sea are divided between states with the view of realization of their sovereign rights on the use of subsoil resources and another legal economic activity.

The position that Turkmenistan maintains at the Turkmen-Azeri negotiations on the delimitation of the Caspian seabed and resources between Turkmenistan and the Azerbaijan Republic as states with opposite coastlines is based on the principle of equidistance from the base lines according to the UN Convention on the Sea Law of 1982. At the same time, the extent of coastal line, its general direction, and also geographical, geological and geomorphologic factors and the structure of the continental shelf should be taken into account.

However, Azerbaijan does not take into account the conventional international criteria for drawing the median line, in particular, the parameters for determining the coastal line which in the end influence the delimitation of Caspian seabed between Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan.

In this connection, it is necessary to continue the negotiation process to find a mutually acceptable decision, taking into account all the natural factors and international norms. It was precisely this approach that was used and discussed in detail by Turkmen and Azeri scientists and specialists in 1992 during joint discussions of the Caspian Sea problem, at which the Turkmen position on the determination of the median line was supported. The relevant documents, including a map of the Caspian seabed delimitation between Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan, were sent to Azeri side in 1992.

27 January 2005, Ashgabat