Turkmenistan plans Caspian naval base amid dispute

Turkmen president says gas-rich nation will build Caspian Sea naval base amid energy disput

Turkmenistan will establish a naval base on the Caspian Sea, the Central Asian nation's president said Monday — a move that could inflame disputes over the area's lucrative hydrocarbon fields.

Addressing top security officials in televised remarks, President Gurbanguli Berdymukhamedov said a base will be built at the port city of Turkmenbashi to help "effectively fight smugglers, terrorists and any other forces."

The joint naval and coast guard base will have two ships armed with missiles and an unspecified number of cutters, Berdymukhamedov said.

Turkmenistan's coast guard has 16 patrol boats and 700 servicemen on the inland Caspian Sea, a minuscule remnant of the Soviet Caspian fleet that has mostly been taken over by Russia.

The Caspian's rich hydrocarbon resources has been a focus of intense competition among shoreline nations Turkmenistan, Iran, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Russia since the 1991 Soviet collapse.

Turkmenistan is locked in a dispute with Azerbaijan, on the opposite shore, over several oil and gas fields. Berdymukhamedov's decision to install a naval base is seen as a signal that his country will protect its interests.

In July, Berdymukhamedov slammed Azerbaijan for its unilateral development of the disputed fields and threatened legal action.

The tension hurts the prospects for Nabucco, a planned pipeline that the European Union and the United States hope will deliver Turkmen gas via Azerbaijan to Turkey and Europe bypassing Russia.

Moscow has tried to maintain a lock on most of Turkmenistan's gas exports, but relations have been strained since Turkmenistan blamed the Russian gas monopoly Gazprom for a pipeline blast in April.

Azerbaijani political analyst Zardusht Alizade said he believes the plan for a naval base signals that Turkmenistan is mending ties with Russia.

"Turkmenistan is putting itself outside Nabucco and choosing the pro-Russian vector in its policy," he said.

Berdymukhamedov has carefully opened up to courtship by the West and by China since he came to power in December 2006, and expressed increasing interest in diversifying Turkmen energy export routes.

Turkmenistan is the largest gas producer in the former Soviet Union after Russia. The EU and U.S. have been pressing for better access to its resources and for the construction of Nabucco.

The Caspian Sea, home to the world's first offshore wells, is estimated to contain between 17 billion and 33 billion barrels of proven oil reserves. The region is estimated to contain proven natural gas reserves of more than 200 trillion cubic feet.

Associated Press Writer Aida Sultanova contributed to this report from Baku, Azerbaijan.

Source: AP News