Following the closing of the 5th Summit of the Heads of Caspian Littoral States and the signing of the Convention on the Legal Status of the Caspian Sea, the Presidents of Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Iran and Russia made statements for the mass media. Announcing the outcomes of the Summit, President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov highlighted the signing of the important document, the Convention on the Legal Status of the Caspian Sea. The Turkmen leader noted the active participation of all Caspian states in drafting the Convention and expressed hope for the effective implementation of its provisions. For this purpose, the parties agreed on the establishment of a pentalateral mechanism of political consultations under the auspices of the Foreign Ministries. Several pentalateral documents covering different areas of cooperation in the Caspian were also signed today. They include the intergovernmental Agreements on cooperation in trade and economics and transport that were initiated by Turkmenistan at the 4th Caspian Summit in Astrakhan in 2014. President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov thanked all Caspian states for supporting Turkmenistan’s proposals. The Turkmen leader stressed that the documents signed today to combat terrorism and organized crime and to support cooperation between the border authorities, and the agreements in the sphere of security in the Caspian Sea will contribute to the stability in the region. Highlighting the importance of the Agreement on the Prevention of Incidents in the Caspian Sea for confidence-building and promoting mutual understanding between the coastal countries, the President of Turkmenistan reiterated that the Caspian Sea must permanently remain the zone of peace and good-neighborliness.