The US Entered the Caspian Sea Through the Sluices Opened Via Russian Diplomacy

During the second session of the virtual forum “The Caspian Factor in Eurasia,” Ajdar Kurtov, a senior research associate at the Russian Institute for Strategic Studies, referencing Iranian sources, announced, “The U.S. is training the coast guard of Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan.” The forum is the foundation of Kurtov’s Central Eurasia project.

Noting that the Iranian sources he referenced are “impossible to completely trust,” the scientist nevertheless continued, stating, “for several years, military ships, built in the U.S. and given to the governments of the Newly Independent States, have sailed the Caspian” for the sake of ensuring security in the region.

Kurtov remarked that “many of the pipelines that are already carrying oil and gas to Caspian countries could not have been constructed without avoiding Russian territory, once more revealing the principle of Russian diplomacy. After all, the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline was built only when it became clear that it could carry oil not only to Azerbaijan, but also to Kazakhstan.”

Kurtov also drew attention to a factor that has long been part of the project to lay pipelines under the Caspian. According to him, it is in the interest of the U.S. to build such a pipeline and pump oil from the Kashgan oilfield in Kazakhstan: “Such an option would allow the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline to go through the territory of a Washington-friendly Georgia,” said the expert. According to Kurtova, “This situation can be blamed on same Russian diplomats whose actions largely contributed to the ‘open gateway’ that the wave that is currently destabilizing the Caspian came through.”

In his report, the senior RISS researcher says that “it is primarily the U.S. that has taken advantage of the situation, and has strengthened the military component on the Caspian through the provision of military-technical assistance to Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, and Kazakhstan. Specifically, the funds are transferred within the framework of the U.S. ‘Foreign Military Finance’ program. This money is used to purchase American military equipment and arms, and also for defense related services and professional military training.”

By way of evidence, the expert listed: “On the shores of the Caspian there are already military objects, built with the support of American ‘well-wishers.’ For example, two radar bases in Azerbaijan — to the north near the Russian border, and in the south, in Astara, near the Iranian border.” He also said a military base was established in Atyrau (Kazakhstan) with financing from the U.S. Department of Defense.