Greece-Turkey maritime dispute in the East Mediterranean and the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (1982)
Subject Areas :
Ehsan Bakhshandeh
1
,
Yasaman Yeganeh
2
1 - Visiting lecturer, Faculty of World Studies, University of Tehran
2 - Water Diplomacy Expert,,, graduate of Delft Institute for Water Education graduate
Keywords: Turkey, Greece, Aegean Sea, UNCLOS, continental shelf, territorial water, special economic zone,
Abstract :
Te Agean Sea has been witness, during the past one century, to a series of disputes over the delimitation of maritime boundaries in the East Mediterranean expecially between Turkey and Greece. Such disputes have culminated in highetened tensions and risk of military confrontation between the two neighbors. Now, after three decades of the first serious tension, the two sides have resumed “exploratoty talks” to discuss maritime disputes. Greece, as a member of UNCLOS insists on referring the dispute to the Hague, while Turkey wants negotiations to reach an agreement on the basis of equity. The present paper aims to study the legal aspects of the maritime dispute between Turkey and Greece under the UNCLOS considering ICJ orders in 1976 and 1978. Researchers study reasons behind the failure of the many initiatives presented during the past one century to resolve this maritime dispute. Findings of this analytical-descriptive research suggest that while mechanisms and procedures for the settlement of maritime disputes by virtue of the UNCLOS have been considered by Turkey and Greece, they can resolve their dispute only through bilateral negotiations and reaching agreement on the delimitation of maritime zones and joint exploitation of the natural resources of the East Mediterranean.
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