Azernews.Az

By Aynur Karimova

Strengthening military presence in the Caspian Sea by any littoral state can eventually lead to the militarization of the sea, so Caspian countries -- Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Russia, Iran and Turkmenistan -- should avoid it as much as possible, military expert Uzeyir Jafarov told Trend on May 26.

The expert was commenting on Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps Naval Force Commander Ali Fadavi's recent statement, who noted that Iran had successfully tested a fast moving boat with 110 knots per hour top speed, and another model of fast moving boats which would be industrially produced by the end of the current Iranian calendar year (March 20, 2016).

Jafarov also noted that the two Caspian littoral states -- Iran and Russia -- have historically been and continue competing for military supremacy in the Caspian Sea.

"Despite its friendly relations with Russia, Iran does not want to give up its positions in the Caspian region and due to this the country has increased its naval presence by using small submarines," he stressed. "The Iranian side explains all its actions in the Caspian with a desire to strengthen the fight against smuggling and drug trafficking, while really it is using this as a pretext.”

The expert believes that Azerbaijan should be more attentive to such actions from its neighbors.

"Azerbaijan has always been committed to the demilitarization of the Caspian Sea and it has openly urged other Caspian states to do so. Caspian countries should listen to these calls not in words but in deeds," Jafarov added.

Along with the issue of delimitation of the Caspian Sea, one of the commonly known pressing problems of the Caspian basin is its demilitarization.

Albeit military-naval policy of littoral states is aimed at securing their national interests both on the coasts and internal waters, as well as open seas, outstanding distinct differences between some states with respect to the delimitation of the Caspian Sea have spearheaded an arms race and the creation of new military-navy installations in countries around the Caspian Sea.

By building up military-navy capacity, the littoral states are creating a destabilizing factor fraught with unpredictable consequences.

Baku strongly believes that the Caspian basin should only be a waterway of friendship and peace.

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Aynur Karimova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Aynur_Karimova

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