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Azerbaijan leader sees Caspian accord
By Ron Popeski
MOSCOW, Jan 26 (Reuters) - Azeri President Haydar Aliyev said on Saturday much progress had been made in resolving disputes over dividing the resource-rich Caspian Sea among four ex-Soviet states and Iran.
But Aliyev told a news conference at the end of a three-day visit to Moscow although Russia, Kazakhstan and his own country had clinched agreements on cooperation over the landlocked sea, much work was still to be done.
Aliyev, 78, who has ruled Azerbaijan since 1993, met Russian President Vladimir Putin during a visit that also settled the status of a Russian missile-tracking station on Azeri soil.
Russia and Azerbaijan, he said, had agreed to establish a median line designating their Caspian border -- as Russia and Kazakhstan had already done. He said both Moscow and Baku had started talks with Turkmenistan.
"We have now agreed to move forward with determining the median line between Russia and Azerbaijan. The issue of the use of the Caspian's mineral resources between three states will then be definitively settled," Aliyev said.
"We must proceed with the necessary work to reach agreement with the remaining Caspian states. I believe we can achieve this, but I cannot really say now when it will be achieved."
Disputes over dividing the Caspian have bedevilled relations in the region since the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union. Russia, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan broadly agree each country's jurisdiction should be related to the length of its coastline, while Iran wants to divide the sea into five equal parts.
Turkmenistan, apparently irritated by Azerbaijan developing fields it also claims, has so far held back from any agreement.
Russia's chief negotiator on dividing the sea, Deputy Foreign Minister Viktor Kalyuzhny, suggested a deal could be clinched in April.
A Caspian Sea summit has been repeatedly postponed as rows dragged on.
Iran last year sent gunboats to chase off two ships owned by oil company BP that were exploring waters claimed by Azerbaijan. And Turkmenistan warned the Azeris to stop working on a field claimed by both countries.
Aliyev's visit culminated in a deal letting Russia use the Soviet-built Gabala missile-tracking station, a strategic lookout over a region including India, Pakistan and the Gulf, for 10 years but recognising it as Azeri property.
Rows over the station had dogged relations between Moscow and Baku since the collapse of Soviet rule. The two countries also signed an accord to promote economic ties until 2010.
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