By Alexandros Petersen
This summer’s dispute over undersea Caspian energy resources between Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan, as well as Ashgabat’s recently stated intention to bolster its maritime military capabilities, have seemingly thrown Trans-Caspian relations into a tailspin, jeopardizing plans for energy cooperation to supply the strategic Nabucco natural gas pipeline. Given the Caspian’s delicate geopolitical balance, an international arbitration process on the Azerbaijani-Turkmen dispute may not in fact result in final resolution. That said, developments surrounding the mid-September informal Caspian summit, attended by presidents Ilham Aliyev and Gurbanguly Berdimuhammedov may signal that this Trans-Caspian flare-up will be short-lived.
"It's a challenge. I mentioned it this morning in my opening statement. Other speakers alluded to it without actually mentioning it by name. There was a silent protest when the representative of Kazakhstan gave her opening speech. This was because of the imprisonment of Yevgeny Zhovtis, who's a human rights worker. It's a criminal case having to do with a fatal car accident [and] there is concern about his treatment. So, people understand that this is a real challenge for them and we hope that Kazakhstan can rise to the occasion."
