Potential Effects of Aegean Sea Disputes on Maritime Transportation

Abstract

The transportation lines in the Aegean Sea, which are of great importance in every period of history, connect the Marmara, Western Anatolia and the Black Sea to other sea areas of the world. The cargo flows in the Aegean Sea and the current density in the ports make this area more and more remarkable day by day. The increase in freight flows in world trade with globalization is an important factor in the inclusion of riparian or non-riparian countries in the Aegean Sea into the problems in this area. Especially for Turkey and Greece, which have reciprocal coasts, the problems in the sea area in question progressed with the disagreements regarding the delimitation of territorial waters and sea areas, and gained a new dimension with the oil exploration studies that started in the late 1970s. Within the scope of this study, first of all, the problems related to territorial waters, continental shelf, Islands, Islands, Islets and Rocks whose Sovereignty Was Not Transferred to Greece by Agreements (EGEAYDAK), arming of non-military islands and search and rescue responsibility area in the Aegean Sea are briefly explained. Then, the possible effects of all these problems in the Aegean Sea on the global maritime trade were evaluated. Although the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea has highlighted the principle of "freedom of the high seas", some problems encountered in practice reveal an important contradiction regarding this principle. For this reason, in the aforementioned study, the effects of disputes in the Aegean Sea on commercial ships using this route and their effects on maritime trade were examined and case studies were interpreted and the study was concluded.