Maritime dispute between Türkiye and Greece in the Eastern Mediterranean

International Law and Everyday Reality

** Fact-finding visit of the International Progress Organization **

 
Port area of the Greek island of Kastellorizo (Megisti), with Ottoman era mosque and medieval castle on top of hill overlooking harbor entrance, against the backdrop of the Turkish coast. Image © International Progress Organization, 2023.

Kastellorizo (Μεγίστη Megisti) (Greece) / Kaş, Antalya (Turkey), 26 June 2023

RE/28915c-is

Upon conclusion of a fact-finding visit to the maritime border area between Türkiye and Greece around the Greek island of Kastellorizo (Μεγίστη / Megisti), the President of the International Progress Organization (I.P.O.), Dr. Hans Köchler, underlined the need for a negotiated settlement of the dispute over maritime demarcation, especially as regards the interpretation of the notions of “continental shelf” cum “exclusive economic zone” (EEZ) under current international law. The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) – to which Turkey is not a State Party – does not provide sufficient clarity concerning the legal status of the “continental shelf” of islands situated within the continental shelf area of another country.

While the closest distance between Kastellorizo and Turkey is less than 2 nautical miles and the coastal perimeter of the island is approximately 15 km, unilateral claims under the provisions of UNCLOS have defined an area of around 40,000 km² as space of the continental shelf/EEZ  around the island, which impacts on Türkiye’s maritime rights as the country with the longest coastline (around 320 km) in this area (namely, between Marmaris and Antalya). In cases such as this one, an island’s EEZ should be considered to coincide with the territorial sea, the President of the I.P.O. suggested.

If the two parties cannot agree on arbitration by the International Court of Justice – similar to the Court’s earlier involvement in maritime disputes between Ukraine and Romania (over Serpents’ Island) or between Malta and Libya – Greece and Türkiye should consider to deal with the dispute bilaterally, taking into account an agreement on the co-sharing of resources in areas of overlapping jurisdictional claims, on the basis of proportionality.

"2 countries, 1 race"

The sporadic escalation of the maritime dispute over the last few years and the stationing of a Roussen-class fast attack craft in the port of Kastellorizo (contrary to Article 14 [2] of the Treaty of Lausanne) notwithstanding, the port towns of Kastellorizo/Megisti and Kaş (Antalya) are officially twinned as sister cities, and daily life and interaction between the communities, including tourism in both directions, goes on as normal. The successful holding of yesterday’s swimming competition in the waters between the ports of Kastellorizo and Kaş, an annual event since 2005, has again been proof of this reality. The winner of the 7 km “intercontinental” race across the external border of the EU – between Europe and Asia – was Emre Erdogan (Türkiye) (1:37:42), closely followed by Spyros Chrysikopoulos (Greece) (1:38:01).

Start of the race at the port of Kastellorizo (Megisti); Lykian mountains sloping down to the coast of Kaş (Antalya) in the background.

Megisti Kaş Swim, 25 June 2023

Last week's fact-finding visit of the I.P.O. to the Turkish coastal town of Kaş (Municipality of Antalya) and to Kastellorizo (Megisti), the easternmost of Greece’s Dodecanese Islands in the Levantine Sea, was part of a research project of the I.P.O., launched in 2020, on geopolitical implications of maritime boundaries and interpretative problems under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. The International Progress has released a position paper on the dispute: