Angara is moving to a unilateral EEZ of up to 200 nm, escalating tensions in Greece-Turkey and challenging the maritime rights of Greece and Cyprus in the Eastern Mediterranean.
In a period of heightened geopolitical instability in the Eastern Mediterranean, Turkey is powerfully re-emerging with a plan that could reshape the maritime balance in the region. According to a publication by Bloomberg, Ankara is considering legislation that would allow the delimitation of an Exclusive Economic Zone by Recep Tayyip Erdogan up to 200 nautical miles, strengthening its state claims in disputed areas of the Aegean and Eastern Mediterranean. This development is expected to directly affect already strained relations with Greece and Cyprus, as it brings chronic disputes over the continental shelf, maritime boundaries and the exploitation of energy resources back to the front.
Bloomberg reports that Recep Tayyip Erdogan is seeking to declare an EEZ in waters that are also claimed by Greece and Cyprus.
Turkey’s plan
Turkey’s ruling party plans to grant authority to Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to declare an Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) extending up to 200 nautical miles (370 kilometers) from the country’s coast, according to sources familiar with the matter.
The party is drafting a bill that would empower Erdogan to claim Turkey’s fishing rights, mining and drilling, as well as to establish marine parks, including in waters considered disputed in the Aegean and Eastern Mediterranean. It is there, Bloomberg reported, that European Union member states Greece and Cyprus have overlapping claims.
Turkey’s move is meant to respond to Greece and Cyprus’ claims to the gas-rich waters of the Eastern Mediterranean and to show that Ankara cannot be sidelined, the same sources said.
Turkey rejects Greece’s position on continental shelf and islands
Briefly providing its international audience with the background of the Greek-Turkish dispute, the network points out that the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea allows coastal states to define Exclusive Economic Zones of up to 200 nautical miles, while overlapping claims require bilateral agreements. It recalls that Turkey has not ratified the convention.
Turkey rejects Greece’s position that its maritime boundaries are determined by its many islands, some of which are close to the Turkish coast, the paper notes. Instead, Turkey argues that continental shelves should be measured from the mainland.
Specifically for island states such as Cyprus, Turkey argues that they have rights only within their legal territorial waters, which can extend up to 12 nautical miles.
Bloomberg also makes reference to the pseudo-state, noting that “the self-proclaimed Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, which only Ankara recognizes, also claims rights to any energy resources discovered off the Cypriot coast.”
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