A research to identify relationship between Turkey?s maritime areas and transportation corridors

Nowadays, the economic value of maritime areas has become very important and land areas have already been shared by the nations while maritime areas are still in the period of to be shared. Therefore, maritime areas constitute new conflicts for territories. Especially attention of coastal states has been shifted to maritime areas by the virtue of having submarine resources such as petroleum, minerals, marine organisms and having strategically significant issues such as transportation, trade, security and communication. All of these factors bring sharing efforts of maritime areas by coastal states to light.This study has worked up a connection between maritime trade and transportation corridors while maritime areas have been analyzed in terms of politic, strategic and security sides in most of the studies. Within this framework the relation which has been supported by the expert participants of this study have established in terms of ?maritime trade?, ?economic sea resources and scientific researches?, ?protected marine areas?, ?exclusive economic zone?, ?archaeological contiguous zone?, ?security? and ?Judgements of International Court of Justice?.This study consists of three chapters; maritime areas of Mediterrenean Sea, Aegean Sea and Black Sea have been analyzed in the first chapter. In the second chapter of the sudy, the projects related with transportation corridors and seaway, railway and road connections within the scope of the transportation corridors transpasses through Turkey have been examined. In the last chapter of the study, the relationship between maritime areas and transportation corridors have been assesed with the opinon of the expert participants by in dept face to face interviews as required by Delphi method. Thus, in the light of the findings by analyzing the opinions, the effects of maritime areas on tranportation corridors have been determined.