Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan’s Dispute over the Caspian Sea: Will It Impede the Nabucco Project?

On July 24, 2009, Turkmen president Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov convened a special session of the government to discuss issues related to ownership of the Caspian oil and gas fields. At the meeting, Deputy Foreign Minister Toyly Komekov discussed the results of recent talks with Azerbaijan on dividing the Caspian Sea: despite Turkmenistan’s efforts to reach an agreement, no consensus could be achieved. Berdimuhamedov underlined that Azerbaijan has long been developing the disputed Omar and Osman (Azeri and Chirag) oil and gas fields and has also laid claim to the Serdar (Kyapaz) field. After the meeting, the Turkmen president instructed Vice Premier Rashid Meredov to commission a study on the legality of Azerbaijan’s claims and submit the findings to international arbitration. […]

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