Central Asia: The Only Region Without Direct Access to Oceans

Central Asia is the only region in the world where none of the countries has direct access to oceans and global sea trade. As a result, it is no surprise that for the second time - the first being in 2003 - it has hosted a UN conference with 32 countries facing the same issue, including two other post-Soviet states, Armenia and Belarus, to discuss potential solutions.

The third conference, held this month in Awaza, a tourist zone of Turkmenbashi on the Caspian, was attended by the UN secretary general, the presidents of Armenia and Kazakhstan, and senior officials from all the other such countries, The Caspian Post reports citing foreign media.

Speakers emphasized that their countries suffer because of the lack of direct access to the world’s sea lanes and have lower incomes and less development than they would if they did; and they called both for greater investment and new treaties guaranteeing them the right of transit to overcome their difficulties.

Earlier meetings of this group in 2003 and 2014 made similar appeals without achieving what the participants hoped for; and it seems unlikely that this meeting will have a different result. But this grouping of states does give Central Asian countries, including most prominently Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan, new opportunities to assume a leadership role in this movement.