: Dimitris Salapatas
: The Aegean Sea Dispute between Greece and Turkey The Consequences for NATO and the EU
: AKAKIA Publications
: 9781909884502
: 1
: CHF 6.00
:
: Geschichte
: English
: 76
: DRM
: PC/MAC/eReader/Tablet
: ePUB
The Aegean dispute between Greece and Turkey is a persistent problem between the two allied states. Difference of interpretation of the treaties has contributed in the prevalence of the argument. This dispute consists of five key issues. Greece only accepts one, namely the delimitation of the continental shelf. However, Turkey has introduced and has persisted on the other four, which are the delimitation of the territorial seas, the national airspace and FIR controls over the Aegean Sea, the demilitarization of the Eastern Aegean Islands and finally the disputed islands, islets and rocks which have presented the grey zones issue. All of these matters have persisted for so long, especially after the Treaty of Lausanne in 1923 where the current status quo in the Aegean was introduced, due to economic, political and strategic reasons.
The Aegean dispute does not only have consequences for Greece and Turkey; it also affects, negatively, NATO and the European Union. This is an ongoing problem, which if not solved it will produce future problems, not only for the two states, but also for NATO and the EU. A third party may be needed in order to assist in finding a just and permanent solution concerning this dispute, since Greece and Turkey seem incapable of solving this dispute by themselves.

CHAPTER 1


Explaining the Dispute



Introduction



“The current dispute really has its origins in the Treaty of Lausanne”[5]. The basis for the current situation is set in this Treaty, which has also been used in the treaties since then to solve the Aegean Dispute. This issue is fundamental due to the fact that it affects “directly on vital national interests concerning territorial sovereignty and security for both countries”[6]. Each state accepts, understands and interprets the dispute intheir ownway. Greece only acknowledges the delimitation of the continental shelf as the only problem between the two states. Greece “claims that it should be decided at the International Court of Justice and according to the existing international law”[7], because it recognizes the dispute as being a legal difference. Turkey, on the other hand, puts on the table other concerns which make the resolution of this dispute even more intricate. The latter country wishes to solve this issue through bilateral talks and not through international bodies, as Greece suggests. The five thorny issues will be analysed below, in order to understand the whole dispute.


A.Continental Shelf



The continental shelf is the key issue, from Greece’s point of view, that prevails within this disagreement. Before analysing this disputed matter it is important to state the definition of the continental shelf, which is:

“Under Article 76(1) of the LOS Convention, the continental shelf extends beyond its territorial sea to the outer edge of the continental margin or to a distance of 200 nautical miles from theterritorial sea baselines, where the continental margin does not extend up to that distance. As a result the geological and geomorphological characteristics of the seabed are not taken into consideration within the 200 miles limit. Contemporary international law does not accept geological or geomorphological characters as legal basis for title to continental shelf within 200 miles from the coast”.[8]

This dispute began in 1973 when for the first time Greece attempted to find in the Aegean seabed oil, minerals and gas. The same year Turkey approved permits to the Turkish Petroleum Company to explore the Aegean Sea for resources. It also “published a map indicating the limits of Turkey’s continental shelf rights as being to the west of Greece’s easternmost islands”[9]. The dispute over the continental shelf intensified when Greece revealed that it had found oil and natural gas near the island of Thassos, which according to the magazineTimetheThassosoil deposit is “of low quality and hardly worth exploiting”[10]. From this period and till 1976 Turkey was constantly sending research ships to explore the seabed in areas maintained b