Root Causes of the Eastern Mediterranean Dispute: Approaches of the Main Actors.

• Author: Baseren, Sertac Hami
• Position: COMMENTARY

Introduction

The world's total natural gas reserves are said to be about 196 trillion cubic meters, five percent of which are located in the Eastern Mediterranean. Thus, it is safe to say that there are approximately 9.8 trillion cubic meters of natural gas in the Eastern Mediterranean. The United States Geological Survey (USGS) estimates that 3.6 trillion cubic meters of natural gas in the Eastern Mediterranean are located in the Levant basin and 6.3 trillion in the Nile delta basin. Although these figures are smaller than the world's total natural gas reserves, they are quite critical figures considering that the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), the Greek Administration of Southern Cyprus (GASC), Greece and Israel have relatively small economies.

The desire to benefit from the natural gas wealth in the Eastern Mediterranean has deepened the existing conflicts among the coastal states and created additional disputes. However, today's drilling crisis in the Eastern Mediterranean did not emerge overnight. The drilling crisis in the Eastern Mediterranean seems to have been caused by the GASC and Greece's longstanding ambitions to own the natural gas wealth in the region and control the transfer routes of the gas to the markets.

These ambitions have also affected the European Union (EU). The EU currently depends on the natural gas of the Russian Federation, so the EU's wish to diversify its sources is understandable. The EU probably plans to supply some of its natural gas needs from the Eastern Mediterranean and therefore finds it appropriate to support the theses of GASC and Greece. For these purposes, new projects have been brought to the agenda, such as the EastMed Pipeline Project, which proposes to bring natural gas from the Eastern Mediterranean to EU markets via pipelines to be laid under the sea. However, in the process of materializing these projects, Turkey is left aside in the matter of transferring the Eastern Mediterranean's natural gas to the EU.

It is technically difficult and relatively expensive to lay and implement pipelines on the Mediterranean seabed, as the route is deep and geologically active and the reserve is small. Ignoring this reality shows that the projects in question reflect not only economic but also political preferences. The decline in natural gas prices due to the increase in shale gas production, the globalization of Liquefied Natural Gas trade, and easy access to alternative gas resources may further weaken this preference. Addressing the developments and the legal framework concerning the present disputes will be useful in order to gain a better understanding of the issues in the Eastern Mediterranean.

The Disputes over the Maritime Areas in the Eastern Mediterranean

Efforts to establish sovereign rights over possible natural gas resources in the Eastern Mediterranean are reflected in international law as disputes over the delimitation of the continental shelf and exclusive economic zones (EEZ). An EEZ is a maritime zone/jurisdiction legally acquired upon declaration by a coastal state. Turkey and Greece have not declared their EEZs; therefore, neither state has an EEZ in the region. Although it lacks the authority to do so, the GASC declared an EEZ in 2004, as if it were the sole representative of the whole island of Cyprus. This declaration is unlawful and therefore invalid. With that said, it should be noted that since coastal states, due to their nature, are included in international law ab initio (from the inception) and ipso facto (naturally), they have continental shelves without a declaration.

Turkey has a wide continental shelf proportional to its long coastline in the Eastern Mediterranean. Contrary to international law, GASC and Greece lay claim to Turkey's continental shelf in the region. Their motivation appears to be their will to capture as big a share as possible in the estimated natural gas wealth of the region. Unlawful claims of the GASC and Greece have gone too far. Eventually, the disputes caused by the claims of the GASCGreece have come to a critical point in terms of creating regional tension.

The Rules of International Law Concerning the Delimitation of Maritime Areas

International law has three different sets of rules regarding the delimitation of a continental shelf: The 1958 Geneva Convention on the Continental Shelf, the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), and the rules of customary law. All three sets of rules stipulate that the delimitation of a continental shelf should be made fairly. In principle, international treaties are binding for their parties, and the rules of customary law are binding for everyone. Turkey is not a party to the 1958 and 1982 conventions. Hence, technically, customary law should be applied in the delimitation of the Turkish continental shelf. In this context, international law stipulates that the continental shelf delimitation should be made through equitable treaties. Equitable delimitation can be summarized as delimitation based on the principle of 'superiority of geography' meaning that it shall not change the long continental shelves of long coasts and the small continental shelves of short coasts. The methods of delimitation that give rise to this result, prescribed by equity, are also consented to as the...