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Two Hellenic Navy frigates participate in an exercise in the central and northern Aegean, on September 20, 2024. [Defense Ministry\/InTime News]<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
\u201cThe more things change, the more they stay the same,\u201d a song by Greek singer Nikos Papazoglou goes. This feeling is prominent when it comes to Greek-Turkish relations. Tensions, threats, and Turkish claims make up the main reality of the last 50 years. On many issues, however, we have a radical change of reality compared to 1974. For example, the dispute over the boundaries of NATO headquarters that have plagued us for decades after we rejoined NATO, is obsolete. Instead, a new major issue has been created \u2013 immigration.<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s start with the dispute over the Aegean continental shelf. It started in 1974 because of oil. Today nobody is thinking of prospecting for hydrocarbons in the Aegean. In the decades that have passed, it has been proven that the real wealth of the Aegean is its natural environment (which also brings tourism). In the Aegean, the delimitation of the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) is now more important than the continental shelf. The reason for this is the establishment of offshore wind farms \u2013 i.e. the future of renewable energy sources. Currently, these wind farms can only be located within territorial waters, at 6 nautical miles. A \u201cforest\u201d of wind turbines around the Greek islands will cause a serious visual nuisance, which is why wind farms must be located beyond territorial waters, in the EEZ, where large wind fields remain unexploited.<\/p>\n
The importance of the continental shelf remains strong in the Eastern Mediterranean, which did not concern us as an issue in 1974. This raises a new, extremely important parameter \u2013 third countries are directly involved. At the same time, the economic prospects are not limited to hydrocarbons. There are precious metals at the bottom of the Eastern Mediterranean. It is only a matter of time before technology makes it possible to exploit them, therefore, the Greek-Turkish dispute over the continental shelf will not end in 2050, when, in theory, the use of hydrocarbons in energy production will stop. It will continue for the precious metals.<\/p>\n
In these 50 years, Turkey has multiplied its claims. Until 1978, it had raised six issues: demilitarization, delimitation of the continental shelf, increase in territorial waters, the difference between the territorial waters and national airspace, the limits of the Athens flight information region (FIR), and the limits of the search and rescue areas. From 1996 onward, Ankara added three more issues: claiming sovereignty on small islets that are not explicitly mentioned in international treaties, the Turkish-Libyan memorandum, the demand for the \u201creturn\u201d of large Greek islands because Greece presumably violates their demilitarization regime.<\/p>\n
Major changes also occurred in the rules of the law of the sea. The Third UN Conference on the Law of the Sea, which was tasked with preparing a new relevant treaty text, had just begun its work. Some states had territorial waters of 3 nautical miles and others had 200 n.m. Nor was it clear whether the right to the continental shelf depended on depth, on the geomorphology of the seabed or on the distance from the shores. The idea of the EEZ did not exist.<\/p>\n
In 1982 states signed the Convention on the Law of the Sea, which entered into force in 1994. This had cataclysmic consequences. The EEZ was established and a territorial sea of 12 nautical miles became a universal rule. The only criterion now for a state to claim rights on its continental shelf is to extend it to 200 nautical miles from the coast. Most importantly: The rules of customary law began to converge with those of the Convention on the Law of the Sea. The fact that Turkey did not sign the 1982 Convention on the Law of the Sea is of limited significance today. The country is bound by the customary rules of international law, which now have roughly the same content.<\/p>\n
The relevant jurisprudence has also contributed to the security of international law. In 1974 we had only one case of judicial delimitation of the continental shelf. In 2024 we have about 30 cases of maritime delimitation from international courts. A three-step methodology for maritime delimitations has been established and is faithfully followed by all courts. It is also a jurisprudential rule that islands are, in principle, entitled to a continental shelf and EEZ. Only in very few cases (due to exceptional geographical conditions) have the courts not granted continental shelf\/EEZ rights to some very small and remote islands, but they always grant territorial waters of 12 nautical miles. The question is no longer whether the islands have a continental shelf\/EEZ, but how much they have.<\/p>\n
The formulation of foreign policy must take into account the new facts. The establishment of customary rules that are largely identical to those of the convention, the universal adoption of the 12-nautical mile territorial zone, the relevant jurisprudence on the right of islands to a continental shelf and EEZ have greatly strengthened the Greek position, while on the contrary they have weakened the Turkish one.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Angelos Syrigos is a New Democracy MP and associate professor of international law and foreign policy at Athens\u2019 Panteion University.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n