The continental shelf, its legal regime and the Aegean dispute

The increasing importance of gaining access to natural resources has oriented the relevant States to have more rights over maritime zones. The primary purpose of this study is to discuss and clarify certain critical points of the legal concept of ?continental shelf? and the legal regime. The study also includes the Aegean Sea Dispute, which has appeared as an important aspect of the relations between Turkey and Greece. To reach at these aims, first the study examined the emergence of the concept of continental shelf; natural prolongation of land territories, with Truman Declaration, along with its getting regulated by means of ?1958 Geneva Convention on the Continental Shelf? and revised through ?1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea?. Besides, the rights of the coastal states over the continental shelf in terms of exploration and exploitation of natural resources within the shelf as well as their authorization rights over the process of laying submarine cables and pipelines, operating artificial islands and plants and making scientific research on the relevant continental shelf have been studied.As most of the legal disputes about delimitation of maritime zones brought to the International Court of Justice and the Court of Arbitration are related with continental shelf in view to define delimitation, a total of fifteen cases were scrutinized. Following an overall review of Turkey?s exclusive economic zone and continental shelf applications in the seas surrounding her, in the last chapter, the causes of the Aegean Continental Shelf Dispute between Turkey and Greece as well as the developments in relations between these countries are discussed. This discussion includes the application of special circumstances on the Aegean Sea Dispute, taking previous court decisions into account. Through this discussion, the study also proposes a joint development regime as an alternative solution, having examined the related state practices.