Turkmenistan Condemns the Attack in the Caspian Sea While Continuing to Avoid Publicly Addressing Russia's War Against Ukraine

Turkmenistan Condemns the Attack in the Caspian Sea While Continuing to Avoid Publicly Addressing Russia's War Against Ukraine Source: Azatlyk Radiosy https://www.azathabar.com/a/turkmenistanyn-dim-i-hazar-denzinin-suw-ginisligindaki-hujumi-yazgardy/33813794.html The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan has issued an official statement regarding reports of an attack on a vessel in the Caspian Sea on July 25. The Ministry described such actions as unacceptable and emphasized the importance of preserving peace, security, and stability in the Caspian region. According to the statement, Turkmenistan, as one of the Caspian littoral states and a country whose status of permanent neutrality has been recognized by the United Nations, regards the Caspian Sea as a space of peace, good-neighborly relations, cooperation, and mutual respect. The Ministry stressed that any actions capable of escalating tensions in the region are unacceptable. At the same time, the Turkmen authorities did not identify the party responsible for the attack, did not specify the vessel involved, and did not comment on the conflicting claims made by the parties. The statement followed reports of an attack on a commercial vessel in the Caspian Sea. According to Iran's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, one crew member was killed and another was injured. Tehran accused Ukraine of carrying out the attack. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed that Ukrainian forces had conducted a long-range operation in the Caspian region. According to him, the targets included facilities associated with the military logistics of Russia and Iran. Ukrainian authorities also stated that the targeted sites included the Filanovsky oil platform and the vessels Port Olya 2 and Begey, which Kyiv claims were being used to transport military cargo between Russia and Iran. As of the time of publication, the Russian Federation had not issued an official statement regarding the incident. It should also be noted that the Convention on the Legal Status of the Caspian Sea, signed in 2018 by Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Russia, and Turkmenistan, establishes a special security regime in the Caspian Sea and prohibits the presence of armed forces belonging to non-Caspian states. At the same time, Turkmenistan's official position on broader issues of international law continues to raise questions among human rights advocates and independent observers. Despite condemning the attack in the Caspian Sea, the Turkmen authorities have not publicly condemned the Russian Federation's full-scale aggression against Ukraine since the beginning of the war, nor have they issued official statements expressing support for Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity in accordance with international law. Furthermore, despite numerous reports by independent media and investigative journalists documenting cases in which citizens of Turkmenistan have participated in the war against Ukraine on the side of Russia, no public information has been released indicating that Turkmenistan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs has lodged diplomatic protests with the Russian Federation or publicly demanded an end to the unlawful recruitment or involvement of Turkmen citizens in the armed conflict. This apparent inconsistency between Turkmenistan's condemnation of violence in the Caspian Sea and its continued silence regarding Russia's war against Ukraine raises broader questions about the consistency of the country's foreign policy with respect to international law, the protection of state sovereignty and territorial integrity, and the protection of its own citizens abroad. Source: Azatlyk Radiosy.