Eastern Mediterranean Border H. Başeren
Eastern Mediterranean by Serhat H. Başeren
TENSION IN THE EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN…
Prof. Dr. Sertaç Hami BAŞEREN*
Developments that could confine Turkey to a narrow maritime area off the coast of Antalya Bay in the Eastern Mediterranean are becoming increasingly dangerous (IMAGE-1). On the one hand, Greece is attempting to draw an Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) boundary with Egypt based on a line connecting the islands of Crete, Kasos, Karpathos, and Meis; on the other hand, the Greek Cypriot Administration (GCA) continues its policies of creating EEZ boundaries based on median lines, without even bothering to make them equitable. In this context, it is known that the GCA has signed EEZ delimitation agreements with Egypt and Lebanon. Turkey has officially declared that it does not recognize these agreements by issuing a diplomatic note and has shown that it is the owner of its rights. Unfortunately, Turkey's diplomatic notes have not been able to stop the provocations of the GCA.
The Parliament of the Republic of Cyprus, following the signing of the Republic of Cyprus-Lebanon EEZ delimitation agreement, passed a law on January 26, 2007, declaring 13 oil exploration license areas in the south of the island of Cyprus, within the borders it drew with Egypt and Lebanon[1](IMAGE-2). The total area of ??the 13 license areas declared by the Republic of Cyprus is 70,000 km². Of these, areas numbered 1, 4, 5, 6 and 7 encroach upon 7,000 km² of the continental shelf areas in the Eastern Mediterranean where Turkey reserved its rights with its Note No. 2004/Turkuno DT4739 dated March 2, 2004[2]. This morsel that the Republic of Cyprus is trying to swallow is larger than the area it governs on the island of Cyprus.
Unfortunately, the provocations of the Republic of Cyprus did not stop there. The Republic of Cyprus (RoC) has opened a tender for licensing in 11 areas, excluding areas 3 and 13 located east of Cyprus between the Lebanese and Cypriot coasts, including areas that infringe upon Turkey's rights. The RoC's current practices also violate the rights of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC). The area put up for tender by the RoC covers 55,000 km². After deducting the 7,000 km² area that infringes upon Turkey's rights, every square centimeter of the remaining 48,000 km² belongs to the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. Considering that the bidding process for the tender opened by the RoC is expected to conclude on August 16, 2007, and the licenses will be issued towards the end of the year, the dangerous nature of the RoC's provocations becomes immediately apparent.
The RoC is attempting to respond to Turkey's efforts to protect its rights under international law with faits accomplis and de facto violations of rights. The licence areas that encroach upon Turkey's continental shelf and the tender opened for granting exploration licenses in these areas are nothing more than an illegal practice. Therefore, no legal consequences can be expected. It is clear that Turkey will not recognize the licenses granted as a result of the tender. However, the size of the disputed area and the appetites whetted by the alleged large oil deposits in this area could force political consequences.
Turkey's continental shelf and the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) that can be declared over it, located in the Eastern Mediterranean between the meridians 032º 16′ 18″ E and 027º 22′ 00″ E, the Anatolian coast from Antalya Gazipaşa to Muğla Deveboynu Cape, and the median line between these meridians and the Egyptian coast, roughly coinciding with the latitude 33º 50′ 00″ N, covers an area of ??approximately 145,000 km², constituting about one-third of our total continental shelf area. This area, larger than the continental shelf we could possess in the Aegean Sea, is more than ten times the size of both the Sea of ??Marmara and the island of Cyprus, and is equivalent in size to our entire continental shelf in the Black Sea. If the ongoing efforts of Greece and the Republic of Cyprus are successful, Turkey will lose 71,000 km² of its 145,000 km² continental shelf area to Greece and 33,000 km² to the Republic of Cyprus, leaving it with only 41,000 km². Clearly, possessing this 145,000 km² piece of continental shelf in the Eastern Mediterranean means possessing one-third of Turkey's own seas.
Following the tender opened by the Republic of Cyprus, the Turkish Armed Forces conducted exercises in the region to demonstrate that the Republic of Turkey stands by its position. The coordinates of the areas where the exercises, which started in March and continued in June, were conducted were published by the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency and the General Directorate of Coastal Safety.[3](IMAGE-3) When these coordinates are examined, it is seen that the exercise areas overlap with the so-called Exclusive Economic Zone and oil/natural gas exploration areas declared by the Republic of Cyprus, but they were established outside the territorial waters of the Island of Cyprus and in full compliance with international law.
The exercise, which was conducted in early May using submarines, warships and aircraft with live ammunition, was carried out for the first time 12-25 miles south of the Island of Cyprus[4]. “Sea Wolf” is one of the planned exercises of the Naval Forces. While the exercises have been conducted mainly in the Aegean Sea for the last five years, this year they were held in the Eastern Mediterranean. Given the developments in the region, it is impossible not to think that this was a deliberate choice. It should be understood that Turkey will not tolerate exploration activities in the Eastern Mediterranean continental shelf based on licenses to be granted by the Greek Cypriot Administration in violation of international law.
Although the activities of the Turkish Naval Forces, demonstrating that the fate of the region will not be left to the course of events, have intensified, they have not been widely reported in the press. Greek Cypriot officials, who previously made misleading statements to the press even about the activities of Turkish warships participating in international organizations in the region, did not exhibit the same attitude this time. In particular, the activities of Turkish ships participating in the exercise between May 2-5, 2007, could be observed from Larnaca and Limassol. The Greek Cypriot Ministry of Defence, which held an emergency meeting, chose to remain silent so as not to disturb the companies involved in the oil tender.[5] Clearly, the exercise, which appears to be a reaction to the Republic of Cyprus's declaration of an Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) and oil and gas exploration areas in the Eastern Mediterranean, was unfortunately only covered in Turkish media by three newspapers and two television channels with a one or two-minute news segment.[6]
Republic of Cyprus leader Tasos Papadopoulos has repeatedly stated that the Greek Cypriot administration's stance on the oil issue is to avoid making statements and discussing the matter publicly.[7] Thanks to this political stance, Turkey's objections to the region will not be raised, and the "politically and legally problem-free nature of the area," which is important for the companies participating in the oil tender, will be supposedly preserved. In a brief statement on May 4th, the Greek Cypriot administration's deputy spokesperson, Vasilis Palmas, stated that the Turkish Armed Forces were conducting military exercises off the southwest coast of Cyprus using air and naval capabilities, but that the exercises were conducted in international waters and did not violate international agreements.[8] This demonstrates the Greek Cypriot administration's stance against escalating tensions.
However, the Republic of Cyprus does not hesitate to misuse the Turkish Armed Forces' exercises in the region to divert attention from the faits accomplis it has created. A letter regarding the exercises conducted by the Turkish Armed Forces between May 2-5, 2007, was submitted to the UN by the Permanent Mission of the Republic of Cyprus to the UN. In this letter, the Republic of Cyprus states that the exercise was conducted near the territorial waters south of the Republic of Cyprus, "violating the Nicosia FIR" and endangering flight and navigation safety by using live ammunition. While acknowledging that every sovereign country has the right to conduct military exercises, the Turkish Naval Forces' exercise was conducted in a region irrelevant to Turkey's geographical location and interests, and without any notification to the Republic of Cyprus. It is argued that this action can only be interpreted as a hostile act and constitutes clear evidence of Turkey's violation of the UN Charter and the undermining of regional security in the Eastern Mediterranean.[9]
In this text, the Republic of Cyprus ignores the discomfort caused by its attempts to force Turkey to recognize its illegal Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) delimitation agreements with Egypt and Lebanon through illegal licence blocks and tenders. Instead, it is trying to draw attention to artificial problems based on non-existent concepts such as FIR violations by misusing the Nicosia Flight Information Regions [FIR]. Turkey has taken the necessary precautions to prevent flight and navigation safety from being jeopardized by announcing its exercises with Hydrolant messages and NAVTEX [10] announcements. The claims of the Greek Cypriot Administration that could be interpreted otherwise are completely false. The illegal faits accomplis created by the EEZ delimitations that disrupt regional security in the Eastern Mediterranean and are contrary to international law, and the license areas that infringe upon the continental shelf rights of Turkey and the TRNC in order to force Turkey to accept them, and the tenders opened to grant oil exploration licenses in these areas, are unlawful. In the press release issued following the National Security Council meeting held on June 20, 2007, it was emphasized that the Greek Cypriot Administration, which continues to be a source of instability in the region with its actions in the Eastern Mediterranean, has no valid initiatives regarding issues concerning the entire island, and it was publicly announced that our country's efforts to protect its rights and interests in the Eastern Mediterranean will continue.
Before August 16, 2007, the date when the bidding process for the tender opened by the Greek Cypriot Administration would be finalized, the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs also increased its activities. Turkey sent a letter to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon through its permanent representative to the UN.[11] The letter was signed on July 26, 2007.
TENSION IN THE EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN…
Prof. Dr. Sertaç Hami BAŞEREN*
Developments that could confine Turkey to a narrow maritime area off the coast of Antalya Bay in the Eastern Mediterranean are becoming increasingly dangerous (IMAGE-1). On the one hand, Greece is attempting to draw an Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) boundary with Egypt based on a line connecting the islands of Crete, Kasos, Karpathos, and Meis; on the other hand, the Greek Cypriot Administration (GCA) continues its policies of creating EEZ boundaries based on median lines, without even bothering to make them equitable. In this context, it is known that the GCA has signed EEZ delimitation agreements with Egypt and Lebanon. Turkey has officially declared that it does not recognize these agreements by issuing a diplomatic note and has shown that it is the owner of its rights. Unfortunately, Turkey's diplomatic notes have not been able to stop the provocations of the GCA.
The Parliament of the Republic of Cyprus, following the signing of the Republic of Cyprus-Lebanon EEZ delimitation agreement, passed a law on January 26, 2007, declaring 13 oil exploration license areas in the south of the island of Cyprus, within the borders it drew with Egypt and Lebanon[1](IMAGE-2). The total area of ??the 13 license areas declared by the Republic of Cyprus is 70,000 km². Of these, areas numbered 1, 4, 5, 6 and 7 encroach upon 7,000 km² of the continental shelf areas in the Eastern Mediterranean where Turkey reserved its rights with its Note No. 2004/Turkuno DT4739 dated March 2, 2004[2]. This morsel that the Republic of Cyprus is trying to swallow is larger than the area it governs on the island of Cyprus.
Unfortunately, the provocations of the Republic of Cyprus did not stop there. The Republic of Cyprus (RoC) has opened a tender for licensing in 11 areas, excluding areas 3 and 13 located east of Cyprus between the Lebanese and Cypriot coasts, including areas that infringe upon Turkey's rights. The RoC's current practices also violate the rights of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC). The area put up for tender by the RoC covers 55,000 km². After deducting the 7,000 km² area that infringes upon Turkey's rights, every square centimeter of the remaining 48,000 km² belongs to the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. Considering that the bidding process for the tender opened by the RoC is expected to conclude on August 16, 2007, and the licenses will be issued towards the end of the year, the dangerous nature of the RoC's provocations becomes immediately apparent.
The RoC is attempting to respond to Turkey's efforts to protect its rights under international law with faits accomplis and de facto violations of rights. The licence areas that encroach upon Turkey's continental shelf and the tender opened for granting exploration licenses in these areas are nothing more than an illegal practice. Therefore, no legal consequences can be expected. It is clear that Turkey will not recognize the licenses granted as a result of the tender. However, the size of the disputed area and the appetites whetted by the alleged large oil deposits in this area could force political consequences.
Turkey's continental shelf and the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) that can be declared over it, located in the Eastern Mediterranean between the meridians 032º 16′ 18″ E and 027º 22′ 00″ E, the Anatolian coast from Antalya Gazipaşa to Muğla Deveboynu Cape, and the median line between these meridians and the Egyptian coast, roughly coinciding with the latitude 33º 50′ 00″ N, covers an area of ??approximately 145,000 km², constituting about one-third of our total continental shelf area. This area, larger than the continental shelf we could possess in the Aegean Sea, is more than ten times the size of both the Sea of ??Marmara and the island of Cyprus, and is equivalent in size to our entire continental shelf in the Black Sea. If the ongoing efforts of Greece and the Republic of Cyprus are successful, Turkey will lose 71,000 km² of its 145,000 km² continental shelf area to Greece and 33,000 km² to the Republic of Cyprus, leaving it with only 41,000 km². Clearly, possessing this 145,000 km² piece of continental shelf in the Eastern Mediterranean means possessing one-third of Turkey's own seas.
Following the tender opened by the Republic of Cyprus, the Turkish Armed Forces conducted exercises in the region to demonstrate that the Republic of Turkey stands by its position. The coordinates of the areas where the exercises, which started in March and continued in June, were conducted were published by the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency and the General Directorate of Coastal Safety.[3](IMAGE-3) When these coordinates are examined, it is seen that the exercise areas overlap with the so-called Exclusive Economic Zone and oil/natural gas exploration areas declared by the Republic of Cyprus, but they were established outside the territorial waters of the Island of Cyprus and in full compliance with international law.
The exercise, which was conducted in early May using submarines, warships and aircraft with live ammunition, was carried out for the first time 12-25 miles south of the Island of Cyprus[4]. “Sea Wolf” is one of the planned exercises of the Naval Forces. While the exercises have been conducted mainly in the Aegean Sea for the last five years, this year they were held in the Eastern Mediterranean. Given the developments in the region, it is impossible not to think that this was a deliberate choice. It should be understood that Turkey will not tolerate exploration activities in the Eastern Mediterranean continental shelf based on licenses to be granted by the Greek Cypriot Administration in violation of international law.
Although the activities of the Turkish Naval Forces, demonstrating that the fate of the region will not be left to the course of events, have intensified, they have not been widely reported in the press. Greek Cypriot officials, who previously made misleading statements to the press even about the activities of Turkish warships participating in international organizations in the region, did not exhibit the same attitude this time. In particular, the activities of Turkish ships participating in the exercise between May 2-5, 2007, could be observed from Larnaca and Limassol. The Greek Cypriot Ministry of Defence, which held an emergency meeting, chose to remain silent so as not to disturb the companies involved in the oil tender.[5] Clearly, the exercise, which appears to be a reaction to the Republic of Cyprus's declaration of an Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) and oil and gas exploration areas in the Eastern Mediterranean, was unfortunately only covered in Turkish media by three newspapers and two television channels with a one or two-minute news segment.[6]
Republic of Cyprus leader Tasos Papadopoulos has repeatedly stated that the Greek Cypriot administration's stance on the oil issue is to avoid making statements and discussing the matter publicly.[7] Thanks to this political stance, Turkey's objections to the region will not be raised, and the "politically and legally problem-free nature of the area," which is important for the companies participating in the oil tender, will be supposedly preserved. In a brief statement on May 4th, the Greek Cypriot administration's deputy spokesperson, Vasilis Palmas, stated that the Turkish Armed Forces were conducting military exercises off the southwest coast of Cyprus using air and naval capabilities, but that the exercises were conducted in international waters and did not violate international agreements.[8] This demonstrates the Greek Cypriot administration's stance against escalating tensions.
However, the Republic of Cyprus does not hesitate to misuse the Turkish Armed Forces' exercises in the region to divert attention from the faits accomplis it has created. A letter regarding the exercises conducted by the Turkish Armed Forces between May 2-5, 2007, was submitted to the UN by the Permanent Mission of the Republic of Cyprus to the UN. In this letter, the Republic of Cyprus states that the exercise was conducted near the territorial waters south of the Republic of Cyprus, "violating the Nicosia FIR" and endangering flight and navigation safety by using live ammunition. While acknowledging that every sovereign country has the right to conduct military exercises, the Turkish Naval Forces' exercise was conducted in a region irrelevant to Turkey's geographical location and interests, and without any notification to the Republic of Cyprus. It is argued that this action can only be interpreted as a hostile act and constitutes clear evidence of Turkey's violation of the UN Charter and the undermining of regional security in the Eastern Mediterranean.[9]
In this text, the Republic of Cyprus ignores the discomfort caused by its attempts to force Turkey to recognize its illegal Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) delimitation agreements with Egypt and Lebanon through illegal licence blocks and tenders. Instead, it is trying to draw attention to artificial problems based on non-existent concepts such as FIR violations by misusing the Nicosia Flight Information Regions [FIR]. Turkey has taken the necessary precautions to prevent flight and navigation safety from being jeopardized by announcing its exercises with Hydrolant messages and NAVTEX [10] announcements. The claims of the Greek Cypriot Administration that could be interpreted otherwise are completely false. The illegal faits accomplis created by the EEZ delimitations that disrupt regional security in the Eastern Mediterranean and are contrary to international law, and the license areas that infringe upon the continental shelf rights of Turkey and the TRNC in order to force Turkey to accept them, and the tenders opened to grant oil exploration licenses in these areas, are unlawful. In the press release issued following the National Security Council meeting held on June 20, 2007, it was emphasized that the Greek Cypriot Administration, which continues to be a source of instability in the region with its actions in the Eastern Mediterranean, has no valid initiatives regarding issues concerning the entire island, and it was publicly announced that our country's efforts to protect its rights and interests in the Eastern Mediterranean will continue.
Before August 16, 2007, the date when the bidding process for the tender opened by the Greek Cypriot Administration would be finalized, the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs also increased its activities. Turkey sent a letter to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon through its permanent representative to the UN.[11] The letter was signed on July 26, 2007.
