Recently, an international dispute caught global attention when the Turkish President proactively warned Greece to demilitarize islands situated in the Aegean Sea. This request from Turkey is geared towards maintaining peace and stability in the region.
Examining Turkey’s Stand
In this complex conflict, Turkey accuses Greece of developing a military presence in the Aegean islands, directly violating multiple treaties that guarantee the islands remain unarmed. Turkey cites historical documents and insist the conditions under which the islands were ceded to Greece included ensuring their demilitarization.
Greece’s Interpretation of the Treaties
In contrast, Greece argues that Turkey has deliberately misinterpreted the treaties; stating that it enjoys legal rights to defend its sovereignty, including the capability to counteract a long-standing threat of war should Greece extend its territorial waters. At the crux of the Greek-Turkish differences is not land ownership, but water boundaries. Currently, both have six nautical miles (11 km) territorial water in the Aegean, although under UNCLOS, states may claim up to 12 miles.
The Islands at the heart of the Dispute
Historically, Greece absorbed the islands, including Limnos, Samothrace, Lesvos, Samos, Chios, and Ikaria during the Ottoman Empire era in the Balkan Wars of 1912-13. Sovereignty over these islands was officially awarded to Greece with the Treaty of Lausanne in 1923. However, and earlier treaty drafted in London in 1914 conditioned Greek possession of the islands on their demilitarization. Turkey asserts that because the Lausanne Treaty refers to the 1914 treaty, it implies the same conditionality. Greece rejects this interpretation.
Discerning the Key Aspects of the Aegean Sea
The Aegean Sea serves as an essential geographical component in this dispute. As a part of the Mediterranean Sea, it lies between the Greek peninsula on the west and Asia Minor on the east. The connection to the Black Sea is via the straits of the Dardanelles, the Sea of Marmara, and the Bosporus.
UPSC Civil Services Examination Previous Year Question
The complexities of international maritime borders and territorial disputes often feature in examination questions. For instance, here is a UPSC Civil Services Examination question from 2019: Consider the following pairs: Sea – Bordering Country. Which of the pairs given are correctly matched? The correct answer was (b), with Adriatic Sea-Albania, Caspian Sea-Kazakhstan, and Mediterranean Sea-Morocco being correctly matched.
Similarly, a question from the 2017 exam asked: Mediterranean Sea is a border of which of the following countries? The correct answer was (c), Lebanon and Syria. As these examples demonstrate, understanding global geographical and political dynamics are crucial for success in competitive examinations.
Indeed, the ongoing dispute between Turkey and Greece over the Aegean Sea provides an engaging case study to explore the intersections between geography, history, and politics on the global stage.
