Central Asia Only Region of the World Where None of the Countries has Direct Access to Oceans

Paul Goble

            Staunton, Oct. 8 – Central Asia is the only region of the world where none of the countries has direct access to oceans and the world's sea trade, and thus is it no surprise that it for the second time – the first was in 2003 – has been the site of a UN conference of 32 countries with that problem – including two other post-Soviet states (Armenia and Belarus) – to discuss what to do.

            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 (cronos.asia/politika/razvivayushchiesya-strany-bez-vyhoda-k-moryu, casp-geo.ru/v-avaze-obsudili-razvitie-transportnyh-koridorov/ and ng.ru/cis/2025-08-04/1_5_9308_turkmenistan.html).

            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.