Azerbaijan has issued a serious warning on the deteriorating state of the Caspian Sea and the Kura River, urging neighboring countries to unite in a coordinated and immediate effort to prevent a regional ecological disaster. Speaking at the Astana International Forum (AIF2025), Mukhtar Babayev, Azerbaijan's presidential envoy for climate issues, emphasized that the Caspian must not become another environmental tragedy like Iran’s Lake Urmia or the Aral Sea in Central Asia.

Babayev revealed that Azerbaijan has initiated a high-level summit dedicated to addressing the sharp and accelerating decline in Caspian Sea water levels. “We have invited all Caspian littoral states to engage in consultations and open dialogue on this critical issue,” he said, adding that government bodies from these countries are actively working on defining the summit’s scope and timeline. The date and agenda will be announced in the coming weeks.

While Babayev's statement echoed Azerbaijan’s leading diplomatic initiative, the broader water crisis stems from a complex mix of climate change, declining river inflows, and inadequate interstate coordination—particularly concerning the Kura River, Azerbaijan’s primary freshwater source. Flowing for 1,515 kilometers, the Kura originates in Turkey and travels through........

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