Welcome to the Caspian Daily, where you will find the 10 most important things you need to know on Caspian Sea Region. We appreciate ideas, reports, news and interesting articles. Send along to Caspian[at]moderndiplomacy.eu or on Twitter: @DGiannakopoulos
1Russia has renewed its efforts to get the United Nations to recognise 1.2 million sq km (463,000 sq miles) of the Arctic shelf that it lays claim to. It made a similar move for the resource-rich territory in 2001, but that was rejected by a UN commission because of insufficient evidence. Russia’s foreign ministry said the fresh bid is backed by scientific data.But all other countries bordering the Arctic – Norway, Denmark, Canada and the US – reject Moscow’s claim. All five nations have been trying to assert jurisdiction over parts of the Arctic, which is believed to hold up to a quarter of the world’s undiscovered oil and gas.The competition for Arctic resources has intensified in recent years as the shrinking polar ice opens new opportunities for exploration.
2Tehran and Baku have recently intensified bilateral relations with an expectation to further deepen the all-out cooperation between the two close neighbors. As part of the measures to broaden the longstanding ties in various fields, an Azerbaijani delegation that included several representatives from oil, telecommunication, banking, and energy companies, led by Azerbaijan’s Economic Development Minister Shahin Mustafayev, visited Tehran. Referring to the role that the North-South corridor can play in consolidating the bilateral ties between the two countries, Rouhani stressed that Azerbaijan can act as Iran’s gateway to the Caucasus region while Tehran can ease Baku’s access to the Gulf and Oman Sea.
3Over 200 fields to be developed in Turkmenistan. Besides the hydrocarbon resources of global importance, Turkmenistan has rich and diverse solid minerals and hydro-mineral reserves of commercial scale. There are more than 200 deposits of various solid minerals and hydro-mineral raw materials prepared for industrial development at the state balance of Turkmenistan. Among them are a variety of mineral salts, iodine-bromine industrial waters, celestine, sulfur, bentonite and kaolin clays, ozocerite, barite, gypsum, ornamental and facing stones, carbonate raw materials for the chemical industry, a variety of mineral raw materials for the production of building materials.
4Ukraine is Intensifying the Transnistria Conflict.”The deteriorating relationship between Moscow and Kiev may be having profound regional consequences, with the Transnistrian Moldovan Republic (TMR) becoming a clear victim due to the abruptly worsening international environment. The Russian public has focused on the military aspects, although the problem is multidimensional and armed confrontation breaking out in Transnistria is unlikely” Igor Istomin [RIAC]
5Syrian Minister In Tehran For Talks On Ending Civil War. Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem arrived in Tehran on August 4 for talks with Iranian and Russian officials aimed at ending the four-year-old war in his country. Moallem will meet Mikhail Bogdanov, President Vladimir Putin’s special envoy to the Middle East, before holding talks with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on August 5, Iranian media reported.”Fortunately, we see a change in the strategy of regional players in the Syrian crisis. If four years ago they believed war is the only solution, now they prefer to focus on diplomacy,” Amir-Abdollahian was quoted as saying by the Fars News Agency.
6Obama to make his case on Iran, drawing on lessons from the Cold War. “President Obama will ask Americans on Wednesday to give his tentative nuclear agreement with Iran a chance when he delivers a history lesson on the most prominent U.S. adversary of his lifetime — the Soviet Union.In an address heavy with homage to President Kennedy’s 1963 nuclear talks with Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev, Obama will talk about the importance of engaging with a hostile and seemingly intransigent opponent in the hopes of achieving peace.The Cold War allusion has been a common theme in public conversations with White House officials all week, and always with a sharp point: “We clearly know who won,” Press Secretary Josh Earnest said Tuesday” Christi Parsons and Michael A. Memoli [Los Angeles Times]
7Kazakhstan Temir Zholy national railways company plans to transit 42,000 containers on the China-Europe-China route, and this figure is almost 40 times more than in 2011. The additional volume of container transportation from China to Europe and vise-versa in 2014 allowed for an increase of revenues from transit traffic by 13.7 percent compared to 2013, Kazakhstan’s Samruk-Kazyna National Welfare Fund reported. China emerged as a major economic player in Central Asia, driving billions into promoting Chinese-Central Asian trade. According to International Monetary Fund estimates, these investments reached $50 billion last year.
8Azerbaijan will be hosting the first International Eurasian Conference on energy economics on August 31–September 3, 2016 in Baku. The event that will be organized by the International Association for Energy Economics is of crucial importance both for energy and tourism spheres. Nearly 200 state, private and academic circles will attend the event.
9Europe must wake up before Iran falls into the arms of Russia and China. “European leaders seem to have been caught somewhat off-guard as regards Iran’s opening up. The Greek saga alone could explain this. The problem is that other competitors have already stolen a march and this is not the US, as it could appear as first sight by looking at the newspaper headlines. Europe’s key competitors to make business with Iran are Russia and China.Although Iran’s historical relationship with Russia has not always been cordial, President Vladimir Putin has become more of a partner as both countries fight against Sunni insurgent groups, such as the Islamic State. Furthermore, Russia was one of the key players pressing for a positive outcome from the nuclear negotiations and there seems to be no doubt that Iran will be grateful” writes Alicia García-Herrero for Bruegel.
10Azerbaijan may join the international GMO-analysis networking. The Genetic Resources Institute (GEI) of the National Academy of Sciences of Azerbaijan informs that GEI senior researcher and member of the Expert Council on GMOs Ayaz Mammadov participated in the 2nd international seminar of the network, held in the Italian town of Varese. Mammadov voiced a hope for Azerbaijan’s accession to the network and European Commission’s courses and seminars in the country for research on GMOs.
