In recent weeks we have seen a major rise in tensions in the Eastern Mediterranean as Greece and Turkey
appear to teeter on the brink of conflict.
But what is the source of the current poor relations between the two countries?
In this video I am going to take a look at the relationship between Athens and Ankara
and explain how the current confrontation is centred on a long-standing disagreement over territorial boundaries
in the Aegean Sea and wider Eastern Mediterranean.
In doing so, I’ll highlight how this dispute shows that arrangements made at one point in history can be
radically upset by the passage of time and wider political and legal changes in the international system.
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Hello. My name is James Ker-Lindsay.
Welcome to Independent Thinking.
A channel dedicated to international relations, independence, statehood and the origins of countries.
Many states have territorial disputes with their neighbours.
In some cases, this can be over a disputed piece of land.
In other cases, it is over maritime boundaries.
In most situations, these disputes are relatively minor.
While they may serve as irritants, they rarely pose a danger of conflict.
Moreover, they can be resolved through a range of mechanisms,
ranging from direct negotiations and mediation, through to more judicial forms of conflict resolution,
such as arbitration by an external party or even adjudication by an international court,
such as the International Court of Justice.
However, sometimes these disputes can be so serious that they pose the risk of outright conflict.
One of the most significant and long-standing of these disputes on the international stage is the conflict
between Greece and Turkey in the Aegean and wider Eastern Mediterranean.
In recent months, tensions between the two countries have again come to the fore
as a result of several major developments.
These include decisions by Greece and Turkey
to conclude competing maritime delimitation agreements with Egypt and Libya respectively
and Turkey’s decision to send a seismic exploration vessel to explore for energy resources
in an area of the Eastern Mediterranean claimed by Greece.
But what exactly are the territorial issues underlying these tensions?
To really understand the problem, we need to take a step back into history.
Despite the widespread view that Greek and Turkey have a long-standing hatred,
in truth the situation dates back a century to the end of the First World War.
The Ottoman Empire, which had long been teetering on the verge of collapse,
emerged from the conflict fatally weakened.
As Western Powers drew up plans to partition the remnants of the Ottoman Empire,
Greece seized its opportunity take control of long-coveted territories in Asia Minor.
In response, Turkish nationalist forces resisted and eventually retook the Anatolian Peninsula
– forcing the Greek armies to withdraw and creating the new Republic of Turkey.
On 24 July 1923, Greece and Turkey – along with Britain, France, Italy, Japan, Romania and Yugoslavia
– signed the Treaty of Lausanne.
As well as formally ending the war with Turkey,
the Treaty defined Turkey’s territorial boundaries with all its neighbours, including Greece.
Importantly, the agreement also explicitly recognised Italy’s sovereignty over the Dodecanese
– a group of mainly Greek-inhabited islands in the south east Aegean.
Now, under usual circumstances, that may have been that.
However, in the years that followed a number of major developments occurred
that radically altered the situation.
The first of these was the decision, following the end of the Second World War,
to formally cede the Dodecanese to Greece.
This extended Greece’s sovereignty over the entire Aegean Sea
and also out into parts of the Eastern Mediterranean.
The second major development was the evolution of international law.
For a long time, the tradition was that states would have three nautical miles of territorial waters.
However, in 1982, the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) was passed.
This officially defined territorial waters as extending to up to 12 nautical miles or 22 kilometres.
At the same time, UNCLOS also defined the limits on how much continental shelf states were able to claim.
This referred to the seabed that extends out from countries.
And this was set at up to 200 nautical miles.
Crucially, while Greece, along with most of the international community, ratified UNCLOS,
Turkey refused.
Thirdly, the discovery of energy resources in the Aegean in the 1970s
heightened tensions between the two countries
as they disputed which country actually had the right to exploit these resources and where.
But what exactly are the legal issues at stake?
At the heart of the problem lies the issue of the continental shelf.
Given the discovery of hydrocarbons, this has now become extremely significant.
Essentially, the dispute comes down to two very different interpretations of international law.
For its part, Greece claims that each of its islands are entitled to claim the full continental shelf.
This would give Greece control of the entire seabed in the Aegean
and over a large part of the Eastern Mediterranean.
In contrast, Turkey argues that the islands don’t and can’t have a right to a continental shelf in their own right.
Instead, the seas around the Anatolian Peninsula should be seen as a continuation of the Turkish mainland.
According to this position, Turkey would have a claim over the seabed in those areas that are in international
waters in the Aegean, up to the point where it meets the continental shelf of mainland Greece.
While much of this has traditionally related to the Aegean Sea,
it has become more significant with energy discoveries elsewhere in the Eastern Mediterranean.
For example, Turkey argues that it is unacceptable that the tiny island of Castelorizo,
the furthest east of all the Greek islands, is able to claim its own continental shelf.
This has in fact led many to point to the fact that, if this is the case,
it leaves Turkey with almost no Exclusive Economic Zone in the Eastern Mediterranean.
In terms of reaching a settlement,
Greece acknowledges that there is a legitimate difference of opinion on the matter.
It has therefore proposed referring the matter to the International Court of Justice
no doubt because the prevailing view is that under the terms of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea,
the Greek position would seem to be the stronger.
However, Ankara has refused this.
Instead, the Turkish Government has called for direct negotiations between the two countries on the issue.
Meanwhile, both sides sign agreements and continue to explore on the basis of their respective positions
– hence the current tensions.
As well as the continental shelf, Turkey argues that there are several other issues that need to be discussed.
However, Greece rejects this;
insisting that the continental shelf is the only outstanding point of contention.
The first of these other issues raised by Turkey centres on territorial waters.
As noted, UNCLOS says that states are entitled to 12 nautical miles.
While it maintains the right to do so,
Greece hasn’t extended its waters beyond the six nautical miles it currently claims.
However, Turkey rejects the possibility of any extension,
arguing that this would effectively turn the Aegean Sea in to a Greek lake.
To underline the point, in 1995, the Turkish Parliament passed a resolution stating that
any extension of Greek territorial waters would be a justification for war.
Closely linked to this is the issue of territorial airspace.
Under usual practice, a state’s airspace should correspond to its territorial waters.
However, Greece is an interesting anomaly.
In 1931, it extended its airspace to 10 nautical miles.
Although this was not disputed by any state at the time
– although Britain did seemingly raise a confused eyebrow about the decision –
Turkey contests this now.
To this end, Turkish military planes will often fly between the 6- and 10-mile ranges.
In truth, the Greek position does create some strange situations.
For instance, a foreign aircraft carrier passing through the Aegean could be sailing in international waters,
but a plane taking off from it would violate Greek airspace.
The problem, of course, is that extending the airspace and waters to 12 miles is effectively precluded
without sparking a conflict with Turkey.
Finally, there is the issue of the so-called ‘Grey Zones’.
This is a much later addition to the list of issues.
It really emerged in the 1980s and came to the fore when Greece and Turkey came to the brink of conflict
over a small uninhabited islet – called Imia in Greece and Kardak in Turkish – in 1996.
Essentially, this focuses on sovereignty over a number of small islets in the eastern Aegean.
Turkey doesn't formally claim territory over them.
Instead, it argues that Greek sovereignty has not been wholly and definitively proven.
A claim Athens steadfastly rejects.
Of course, on top of this, there are also other issues that affect the relationship.
For example, there are questions relating to the demilitarisation of a number of Greek islands.
On top of this, there is also the Cyprus Issue
and issues relating to the Greek and Turkish minorities in the two countries
- although Greece does not formally accept the existence of a Turkish minority in its country.
The recent escalation in tensions between Greece and Turkey
has again drawn attention to the long-standing differences between the two countries.
These centre on territorial differences in the Aegean and Eastern Mediterranean.
But what makes the situation so interesting for wider observers is that it highlights how two countries
can in fact seemingly reach a settlement on territorial issues,
only to find that changing circumstances and evolving international practices
can destabilise that situation over time.
Despite having signed a peace agreement almost a century ago that seemingly defined
their land, sea and air boundaries, time and circumstances mean that Greece and Turkey
once again find themselves on the brink of war over territory.
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