Creations of states and acquisition of territory in context of territorial sovereignty: Case of Western Sahara

This thesis examines the still unresolved issue of Western Sahara in the context of territorial sovereignty and the acquisition of territory in international law. It aims to analyze whether the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) should be considered an established state or merely a national liberation movement. Within the framework of this central question, it seeks to determine whether territorial sovereignty and territorial acquisition can be deemed to have taken place under various possible scenarios. It is argued that, following the 1991 ceasefire, in the territories constituting approximately one-fifth of Western Sahara and placed under the supervision of the SADR, the POLISARIO Front has exercised effective control through its government-in-exile in Tindouf; thus, it meets the criteria of statehood. Therefore, as the SADR has become arguable as the sovereign state over Western Sahara, the methods of territorial acquisition can also be examined. The thesis particularly contends that, in response to the frozen nature of self-determination in Western Sahara since the UN ceasefire declaration of 1991, stability may be achieved through acquisitive prescription as a mode of territorial acquisition In the theoretical framework, the concept of territorial sovereignty is explained and distinguished from similar concepts, followed by an examination of the methods of territorial acquisition and the doctrines of recognition and non-recognition, which are decisive factors in claims of territorial sovereignty. In the second part, the case analysis, the historical background of the Western Sahara issue is reviewed, and thereafter, critical dates relevant to the resolution of the dispute from a legal perspective are identified. Subsequently, it is analyzed whether the POLISARIO Front should be regarded as a unit of self-determination or as the government-in-exile of a sovereign state, the SADR. An effort is then made to determine the establishment date of the SADR. The analysis of possible critical dates suggests that the most compelling likelihood is that the establishment of the SADR coincides with the 1991 ceasefire. However, the SADR's consistent acceptance, rather than rejection, of referendum proposals implies that it has conditioned its sovereignty. This contradicts the very concept of sovereignty and is interpreted as tacit recognition of Morocco's sovereignty claims, leading to the conclusion that Morocco may, through acquisitive prescription, acquire sovereignty over the four-fifths of Western Sahara under its effective control. In this study, the sovereignty dispute over Western Sahara is examined through legal deductive reasoning and interpretive case analysis methods. Drawing on sources compiled from printed books in English and Turkish, academic articles, historical data, and relevant official websites, international legal norms (such as self-determination and effective control) are theoretically analyzed and applied to the case. Through interpretive case analysis, the interaction of these norms with political realities—such as the UN's search for a pragmatic solution and Morocco's autonomy plan—is systematically evaluated.