Media Review - August 16, 2018

The issues of ensuring employment of the population, the impact of signing the Convention on the legal status of the Caspian Sea on resolving controversial issues, and the current state of US-Turkish relations are the leading topics of today's press.

The newspaper Azerbaijan writes that thousands of new jobs are opened every year to solve the problem of employment of the population. The author quotes from the speech of the head of state, according to which 58 thousand new jobs were opened, and over 20 thousand jobs were closed. Judging by the statements, the dynamics are positive, but the analysis of why the jobs are closed is not given. According to statistics, from the beginning of the Third State Program, from the beginning of 2014 to the beginning of 2018, 721,200 new jobs were opened, of which 530,400 were permanent jobs. The author draws attention to the opening of seasonal jobs and also tells about the self-employment program, according to which 6-7 thousand people join it every year.

The website Musavat.com writes that the Convention on the legal status of the Caspian Sea, signed on August 12, does not close the issue of disputable deposits. Such is the Araz-Alov-Sharg located 120 km southeast of Baku. Between Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan, the controversial field is Kapaz. The Convention does not cover the issue of dividing the bottom of the Caspian Sea. The document recommends a bottom section by the principle of the midline. Such a middle section takes place in the northern part of the Caspian Sea between Azerbaijan, Russia and Kazakhstan. However, neither Iran, nor Azerbaijan, nor Turkmenistan has been able to achieve such an agreement in the southern part of the Caspian Sea for many years. Iran does not agree that the Caspian is not recognized as a lake, which affects the shared areas of the reservoir. Turkmenistan agrees with the middle line principle, but is against the middle line counted from the eastern end of the Absheron peninsula, because in this case Turkmenistan loses Kapaz. The Convention has not put an end to the disputes that the parties will have to decide between themselves.

The website Bizimyol.info discusses the issue of sanctions against Turkey. If they are long-term, this will have an impact on the Azerbaijani-Turkish economic relations. MP Vahid Ahmadov believes the aggravation of relations between America and Turkey has led to many negative consequences, although the leadership of the latter is taking certain steps. Azerbaijan has invested more than 20 billion US dollars in Turkey. So far, the decline of the Turkish lira has not created problems for Azerbaijani investments, but they can arise with the continued preservation of the sanctions. -0-