OREANDA-NEWS. August 25, 2009. Azerbaijan tries to blockade the court decision of territorial dispute with Turkmenistan against the background of the threat of the Turkmenian side to appeal to international arbitration.

Manager of the external connections department of the Azerbaijani Presidential  Administration Novruz Mammadov sais that intention of Turkmenistan to dispute the development of some offshore deposits by Azerbaijan in the Hague international court is unauthorized as the appeal of the both parties to the court is necessary.

“In the present situation Azerbaijan will not appeal to any court,” N.Mammadov said.

Thus, considering as groundless the territorial claims of Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan stands for solving then issue by holding negotiations.

"Azerbaijan has good offers in solving the issue. “In order to achieve an agreement between Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan there are no problems in the issue of the Caspian. Official Ashkhabad should merely refuse from claims. Our opinion consists of possibility of joint exploitation of certain deposits,” N.Mammadov said.

The dispute between countries touches upon the methods of drawing median line in the Caspian Sea. At the same time, in accordance with Azerbaijani methodology, the border lies more eastern   that turns Kapaz deposit (in the Turkmenian variant – Serdar) into a boundary structure which Azerbaijan and offers to develop jointly. In accordance with Turkmenian methodology, the border lies much more eastern and not only Kapaz / Serdar but also Azeri deposit, included in offshore block of oilfields Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli,  has been developed since 1994 by international consortium, belong to Turkmenistan.