A Greek Exclusive Economic Zone in the Aegean Sea

A Greek Exclusive Economic Zone in the Aegean Sea

For more than thirty years, Greece has been insisting that its only dispute with Turkey is of a legal nature and is related to the delimitation of the continental shelf of the Aegean Sea. But for more than twenty-five years the concept of the continental shelf has been overshadowed by the concept of the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). Since the beginning of the new Convention of the Law of the Sea (CLOS) in 1982, not a single country has requested delimitation of its continental shelf along with the simultaneous delimitation of the EEZ.

The Turks are delighted because they hear the Greek government and all the Greek political parties discussing only the continental shelf without ever mentioning the EEZ. The main reason, of course, for this great elation is that they know that Greece could gain much from the delimitation of the EEZ in the Aegean Sea. Figuratively speaking, the Turks are putting their heads in the sand while the Greeks have blinders on and continually mention only the continental shelf.

This held true until recently, when Cyprus decided to sign an agreement with Egypt for delimitation of the EEZs of the two countries, and then to commence oil exploration in the Cypriot EEZ. The Greek government seems to agree with and support the Cypriot position. At the same time, the Greeks are completely in the dark about the concept of the EEZ because they have never openly articulated this new concept of the Law of the Sea. The main reason for the Greek-Turkish dispute is the existence of oil in the Aegean Sea, yet Greek governments have never asked for delimitation of the EEZ in the Aegean. Now, the Cypriot initiative brings to the forefront this great Greek omission, and it puts Turkey in a very difficult position since it does not wish to mention the EEZ, which could be detrimental to the interests of Turkey in the Mediterranean.

The position taken by Turkey is not a surprise, because Turkey was opposed to the concept of the EEZ as well as its inclusion in the final document of the 1982 convention. On 30 April 1982, a final vote took place in New York for the new CLOS. The results were 130 in favor, 4 against, and 17 abstentions. Turkey was upset with this convention, and it was one of four countries that voted against it. Greece, on the other hand, was almost completely satisfied with the benefits of the new constitution for the oceans and voted in favor of the convention.

Some Greeks fear that Greece would be in danger of losing its case should it take the dispute to The Hague. Turkey, for its own reasons, does not want the Greek-Turkish dispute to reach the International Court of Justice (ICJ). Turkey will worry if Greece insists on the simultaneous delimitation of the continental shelf and the EEZ. For many years, Turkey has been adding issues at the negotiating table, such as gray zones, demilitarization of islands, and the breadth of the territorial waters. On the other hand, Greece has not dared to add the issue of the EEZ to the negotiations.

The Concept of the EEZ

In 1967, Malta's ambassador to the United Nations, Arvid Pardo, called for an international conference to devise a new law of the seas, and referred to the oceans as "the common heritage of mankind." Fifteen years later, on 10 December 1982, nearly 120 countries signed the new UN convention, thereby ending one of the lengthiest and most significant international conferences of the modern era.

Part 5 of that convention (and more precisely Articles 55 to 75) provides for an EEZ extending two hundred nautical miles seaward from the coast. If all coastal states thus exercised their jurisdiction over their own EEZs, some 38 million square nautical miles would become their "economic patrimony."¹ The oceans represent 71...