Spitsbergen Archipelago in international relations: Legal and poliitical disputes in fisheries protection zone and continental shelf

For around 400 years, Spitsbergen Archipelago in the Arctic Region and the marine regions around them have been an area which receives much attention by the nations having a coastline in the Arctic Region and the countries in different geographical regions owing to their economical, scientific and cultural activities, and geostrategic location. The importance of Spitsbergen Archipelago is constantly increasing because of the energy resources they harbour and the sovereignty claims over the marine regions, and the developments in this geographic region are among the top subjects of global politics. Since the last decade of Cold War, Norway, which obtained a unique sovereignty with the signing of the Spitsbergen Treaty of 1920, has been trying to expand the scope of its sovereignty on the marine regions around Spitsbergen Archipelago, namely Fisheries Protection Zone and the continental shelf, under the terms of International Maritime Law Treaties. However, the other signatories of Spitsbergen Treaty, which was signed on the basis of the principle of equality and has a unique feature, consider Norway's judicial and political practices against law and criticise them. This study aims to discuss the economic activities, scientific researches which have been carried out on Spitsbergen Archipelago and the marine regions around them, and the sovereignty claims by the nations, as well as the judicial and political disputes over the marine regions around Spitsbergen Archipelago between Norway and the other signatories of Spitsbergen Treaty, and the reasons and the results of these disputes. Keywords: Terra Nullius, Fisheries Protection Zone, Continental Shelf, Spitsbergen Treaty,UNCLOS