Turkmenbashy hosted the scientific and practical conference “The Caspian Sea – the Sea of Peace and Friendship”, timed to coincide with the International Day of the Caspian Sea, which is celebrated on August 12. The forum discussed topical issues of the Caspian problems: the interaction of coastal countries in the political, economic, scientific, environmental and other fields.

One of the key topics of the conference was the change in the level of the Caspian Sea, TASS reports. Deputy Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan Rashid Meredov said that Turkmenistan is in favor of strengthening the scientific cooperation of the Caspian states in studying the water balance and determining the causes of fluctuations in the level of the Caspian Sea in order to predict it.

Meredov noted that at present there are two main concepts of the causes of changes in the level of the Caspian Sea: climatic and geological. At the same time, the degree of their impact is the subject of scientific research, this is being done by experts from five coastal states.

“But there is still no consensus on the reasons for the change in the level of the Caspian Sea, and therefore there is no way to predict with certainty the development trends of this process,” the minister explained.

Meredov remind that in 2018, the National Leader of the Turkmen people Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, speaking at the V Caspian Summit in Kazakhstan's Aktau, in this regard, made a proposal to develop a five-sided agreement on cooperation in the field of science between the five Caspian states. “Today, this work is being carried out by experts from our states,” the Foreign Minister said.

Meredov also expressed hope that by the end of the year a meeting of foreign ministers of the Caspian states would be held, which would consider issues related to the practical implementation of the provisions of the Convention on the Legal Status of the Caspian Sea and other five-sided documents adopted by the Caspian countries. In addition, he considers it necessary to identify a platform for developing measures aimed at improving the environmental situation in the Caspian Sea.

On August 12, 2006, the Framework Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Caspian Sea (Tehran Convention) entered into force, and in 2018 the Convention on the Legal Status of the Caspian Sea was signed - a historic document that fixed the agreements on the basic principles and procedure for interaction between the five coastal states.