Eastern MediterraneanMaritime Boundaries in troubled

waters

Professor Haritini DiplaUniversity of Athens

A sub regional Sea of the Mediterranean, which is considered a semi enclosed sea in accordance with article 122 of the UNCLOS

Coastal States: Egypt, Israel, Lebanon, Syria, Turkey, Greece and Cyprus. Three among them are not parties to the UNCLOS ( Israel, Syria and Turkey).

Introduction

All the Mediterranean States have a territorial sea. A number of them have a contiguous zone or an

archaeological zone. The initial Mediterranean States’ practice

consisting in abstaining to create EEZ beyond the territorial Sea or the contiguous zone is being reviewed. A number of diversified zones (fisheries protection zones, ecological protection zones) have been proclaimed in the Western and Central Mediterranean.

In the Eastern Mediterranean, the recent discoveries of important natural gas deposits south of Cyprus and in the Levant Basin have led the coastal States to ascertain/delimit their rights over their EEZ.

1. Existing maritime zones

Cyprus/Egypt (2003) Cyprus/Lebanon (2007) Cyprus/Israel (2010)

2. Existing EEZ delimitation agreements in the Eastern

Mediterranean

Reactions and objections have been addressed to the SG of the United Nations by Turkey in respect to the Cyprus/Egypt 2003 agreement

Turkey has also reacted against the Cyprus/Lebanon 2007 Agreement and the 2010 Cyprus/Israel Agreement

Lebanon, which has not ratified the Cyprus/Lebanon agreement, has objected the position of the northern final point agreed upon in the 2010 Cyprus/Israel Agreement

3. Problems and disputes arising from existing EEZ agreements

Greece / Turkey Cyprus/Turkey Syria/Turkey Cyprus/Syria Lebanon/Syria Israel/Lebanon Egypt/Israel Greece/Egypt

4. Remaining delimitations with respect to existing and potential claims

The discoveries of natural resources in the seabed of the Eastern Mediterranean has changed dramatically the energy and geopolitical landscape in the region

The initial euphoria that led the interested States to rush to proclaim/delimit, following the strong reactions their EEZs has ceded the place to a more

5. Resolution of disputes and concluding remarks