The Caspian Sea Day was celebrated in Avaza and an international forum was held
Festive events dedicated to the Day of the Caspian Sea were held in the national tourist zone "Avaza". This holiday has been celebrated since 2007 and its date is associated with the entry into force on August 12, 2006 of the Framework Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Caspian Sea (Tehran Convention), which was signed 20 years ago, in November 2003.
The festive events began on Friday, August 11, and included competitions in various sports among schoolchildren of the city of Turkmenbashi, a thematic contest of drawings, decorative and applied works and crafts made of marine materials. The contest was dedicated to the beauty of the Caspian Sea.
In the evening of the same day, beach volleyball and football competitions were held between diplomats, heads and employees of international organizations and employees of ministries and departments of Turkmenistan.
On August 12, the international scientific and practical conference "The Caspian Sea - the Sea of Peace and Friendship" was held at the Hasyl Recreation Center. The conference was attended by members of the Cabinet of Ministers of Turkmenistan, ambassadors of the Caspian states, heads and representatives of international organizations, diplomats, employees of ministries and departments of Turkmenistan, representatives of the academic and scientific community.
The conference participants heard a welcome address by President of Turkmenistan Serdar Berdimuhamedov.
Then Deputy Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers, Minister of Foreign Affairs Rashid Meredov spoke, who noted Turkmenistan's active participation in the Caspian negotiation process. It was in Ashgabat in November 1998 that the first meeting of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the Caspian Five was held, which launched the preparation of a draft five-sided document defining the legal status of the Caspian Sea. Turkmenistan also initiated the First Caspian Summit in Ashgabat in April 2002.
In the future, such summits were held alternately in all coastal States. The next, Sixth Caspian Summit was held last year again in Ashgabat.
Turkmenistan also initiated the creation of the Caspian Economic Forum, the first such forum was successfully held in August 2019.
Turkmenistan aims to develop full-fledged economic cooperation both with the Caspian countries and with states located outside the region. An example of such cooperation is a number of transport corridors, in particular, the Caspian Sea – Black Sea. In energy cooperation, Turkmenistan, being committed to the strategy of diversification of energy flows, expresses its readiness to continue cooperation with European partners on the implementation of the Trans-Caspian pipeline project.
The idea of its construction, initiated by Turkmenistan, was initially considered by our country not just as an economically and commercially sound project, but also as an essential component of the diversification of energy flows as a key condition for global energy security and sustainability based on equal consideration of the interests and benefits of producers, consumers and transit countries.
Together with European countries, the consistent and practical implementation of this economically sound project, capable of making a tangible contribution to ensuring energy security in Eurasia, is being promoted in order to ensure long-term and uninterrupted access to raw materials sources for European consumers of the project, and now this issue is on the agenda of Turkmenistan, Meredov said.
The conference was attended by the ambassadors of the Caspian littoral states - Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan and the Russian Federation, as well as the Ambassadors of Georgia and Romania, the Minister of Nature Protection of Turkmenistan, heads and representatives of international organizations, including the UN Environment Program, the UN Development Program, FAO, IOM, OSCE, the German Society for International Cooperation, Intergovernmental the Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO, the International Institute of the Law of the Sea and the International Ocean Institute.
Topics such as the main areas of cooperation of the Caspian littoral states, the implementation of the Tehran Convention and environmental protection, compliance with environmental standards in the activities of the International Seaport of Turkmenbashi, the development of the tourism potential of the National Tourist Zone "Avaza", etc. were considered.
In the afternoon on Saturday, a festive concert was held at the Dayanch Health Center with the participation of artists of the State Drama Theater of the Balkan region, children's groups of the city of Turkmenbashi.
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