The Legal Aspects of the Eastern Mediterranean Crisis
About the Author: Deniz Baran
Abstract: Currently, the Eastern Mediterranean region is undergoing one of the most intense crises the region has ever witnessed. The main reason behind the current crisis is the increasing discoveries of significant oil and hydrocarbon fields in the East Mediterranean Basin since the 2000’s. Thus, the current maritime boundary disputes between the coastal states such as Turkey and Greece actually correspond to a crisis of distribution of the potential resources. In the current situation, the best way for a precise assessment of the Eastern Mediterranean crisis from an international law perspective is to examine two recently signed international agreements which embody the claims of the contesting parties: Turkey-Libya and Greece-Egypt maritime delimitation agreements. Therefore, in this expert brief, the most important features of both agreements and the contesting claims of the relevant parties are examined in detail in light of their reactions to those agreements. Finally, some previous maritime delimitation cases are analyzed in order to explore the possible approaches to be referred for an equitable solution of the Eastern Mediterranean crisis.