Caspian states to create antiterrorist flotilla

RIA Novosti
14 July 2005

ASTRAKHAN REGION, July 14 (RIA Novosti) – The Caspian Sea countries
have backed the idea of establishing a task force for fighting
terrorism in the region, a senior officer in the Russian Navy said
Thursday.

“The idea is to create a task group of the littoral states’ ships,
similar to the Black Sea Force group, to fight terrorism, drug
trafficking, and bio-terrorism,” said Vice-Admiral Yury Startsev, who
commands the Russian Caspian Flotilla.

An international conference devoted to security in the Caspian is
taking place in the Astrakhan region, in Russia’s Volga area. The
parties attending are exchanging opinions at an informal meeting on
the Tatarstan missile ship, the Caspian Flotilla’s flagship.

The fight against terrorism is the central issue on the conference
agenda, Startsev said.

“This problem requires joint efforts by all Caspian states
[Kazakhstan, Russia, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan and Iran],” the admiral
said. “Therefore, it is extremely important to promote cooperation on
the Caspian, as it will allow [us] to respond promptly to emerging
threats.”