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Russia makes waves in the
Caspian
By Sergei Blagov
MOSCOW - Although Moscow has repeatedly
described its August 8-15 naval maneuvers in the inland
Caspian Sea as an important measure to safeguard
regional stability, some littoral states remained wary
of their unprecedented scale.
Defense Minister
Sergei Ivanov traveled to the Caspian Sea to observe the
Russian Caspian Flotilla exercises in which 60 vessels,
some 10,000 servicemen and 30 aircraft took part.
The maneuvers included training in the
protection of civilian facilities - an oil rig, in one
such exercise - and ships from terrorist attacks, and
were due to culminate in an assault to destroy a large
militant group trapped by the sea on a barren
750-hectare Tyuleny island, some 300 kilometers south of
Astrakhan. However, according to Russian press reports,
the assault failed to materialize and the maneuvers took
the form of ID checks of five Tyuleny residents,
supposedly bemused.
Officially, Moscow claimed
the naval exercises of the Caspian Flotilla were
required to combat drug traffickers, organized crime and
terrorism. The maneuvers should not be viewed as a show
of force by Russia, Ivanov announced in Astrakhan on
August 8. The Russian Foreign Ministry said in a
statement that the Russian military presence in the
Caspian posed no threat to other littoral states.
Moscow managed to secure support of some
littoral states, notably Kazakhstan. On August 10,
Ivanov told the journalists in Kaspiisk, Dagestan, that
a joint military force, including Russia and Kazakhstan,
could be created to safeguard Caspian security.
Last July, President Nursultan Nazarbayev stated
that the Kazakh Navy would take part in the August naval
exercises; moreover, Kazakhstan held its own Caspian
maneuvers, "Sea of Peace 2002," on Mangyshlak peninsula
August 7-16. Some 3,000 servicemen - or roughly all of
the country's naval personnel - took part in the
exercises, which involved some joint action with
Russia's Caspian Flotilla.
On August 11 Ivanov
met with Kazakh Defense Minister Mukhtar Altynbayev, who
traveled to Makhachkala, Dagestan, to observe the
Caspian maneuvers. According to a statement of Kazakh
defense ministry, Ivanov pledged to supply Russian
military hardware, including one naval vessel, to
Kazakhstan at Russia's domestic prices. It is understood
that Russia's pledge of discounted arms sales serves as
a reward for Kazakh support of Moscow's Caspian
policies.
Historically, Russia's Caspian
Flotilla has been a force for coastal defense and
waterways patrol. Following the division of the Soviet
Caspian Flotilla in 1992 between Moscow and Baku, Russia
kept three quarters of the naval vessels and personnel.
The withdrawal of the flotilla from its former base in
Baku, Azerbaijan, forced Russia to build a new base in
Astrakhan.
The Kazakh navy is based in the Aktau
and Atyrtau ports in the eastern and northern parts of
the Caspian, respectively. Kazakh naval forces include
some 3,000 personnel, and armed with ten imported coast
guard boats and five smaller vessels, as well as three
Mil helicopters.
Tehran was prohibited to have
naval forces in the Caspian Sea, according to treaties
between czarist Russia and Persia as well as the USSR
and Iran. However, in the wake of the Soviet collapse,
Iran has been reported to mull turning its Caspian ports
into naval bases.
Officially, Turkmenistan has
no naval forces at all. However, Turkmenistan reportedly
procured 20 patrol boats from Ukraine. Turkmenistan has
20 Ukraine-built patrol boats, as well as one US-built
vessel.
Unlike Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan owns
naval facilities in Baku as well as a quarter of the
former Soviet Caspian Flotilla. However, Russia
reportedly acquired the best vessels while the naval
facilities in Baku remain in disrepair.
The
Caspian Flotilla is Russia's sole naval force that has
recently seen a growth of its strength. In the past five
years, Russia reportedly doubled its Caspian naval
force, which now includes two frigates, 12 major patrol
vessels and about 50 smaller vessels based in Astrakhan,
as well as some 20,000 personnel.
Seeking a
larger share of the Caspian Sea, Turkmenistan and Iran
have disagreed with Russia's plan for splitting the
Caspian bottom along a "modified median line" while
keeping the waters in common. Kazakhstan agreed and
clinched a separate deal with Russia last May, while
Azerbaijan still mulls signing a similar agreement.
Turkmenistan, which proclaims neutrality and
presumably feels threatened by the maneuvers, declined
to take any part in the naval war games. On August 6,
Turkmen Foreign Minister Rashid Meredov issued a
statement that "as a neutral state Turkmenistan does not
and will not take part in any military maneuvers in the
Caspian, either as a participant or as an observer."
Turkmenistan, the statement continued, believes that
"large-scale naval exercises in the Caspian should not
have been carried out because none of the littoral
states, except Russia, has sizable naval forces there".
Iran somewhat backed down from its initial
reservations about the maneuvers. Last month, Iranian
official media had warned against unilateral action such
as Russian maneuvers in the Caspian and argued the
exercises were detrimental to "finding a comprehensive
and fair legal regime" for the Caspian. However, Tehran
eventually accepted the idea. On August 5, Iran's
special envoy on the Caspian, Mehdi Safari, was quoted
by the RIA news agency as saying that Tehran viewed the
maneuvers' stated goals, ie, fighting terrorism and
crime, as legitimate, and that Iran did not feel
offended by the maneuvers.
Moreover, unlike
Turkmenistan, Iran dispatched military observers to
watch the maneuvers. Admiral Muhammad Dekhani, head of
the Iranian observer mission at the maneuvers, told
journalists on August 10 that Iran did not view the
maneuvers as connected with problems of the Caspian
division. However, he warned against possible
"militarization" of the sea.
Presumably, Iran
ended up in believing that the Caspian maneuvers were
directed against growing Western influence in the
region. Russia is trying to flex its muscles at the
North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) through war
games in the Caspian Sea, former Iranian foreign
minister Ali-Akbar Velayati reportedly commented on
August 6 in a meeting with academicians of Mashhad's
Ferdowsi University. He said he believed was trying to
tell NATO that the Caspian Sea is its own security zone
and that they were not welcome there.
As for the
coastal Caspian states, Russia seems to be pursuing the
time-honored policy of carrot-and-stick, in which its
friends receive discounted arms sales while its
opponents (and neutrals) receive the certain knowledge
that Moscow retains the growing ability to order its
fleet without notice into waters they regard as theirs.
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