Against the backdrop of the Bosphorus, are resuming this morning at the Istanbul the exploratory contacts between the Greece and of Turkey, after nearly five years. The purpose of the talks was to explore areas of common ground for possible future negotiations regarding the demarcation of the continental shelf and of EEZ in Aegean Sea and in Eastern Mediterranean, based on the International Law.
In exploratory talks, as the Greek side has repeatedly emphasized, The issue of demilitarizing the islands is not up for discussion. Greece does not negotiate on any issue concerning national sovereignty. The country’s position is in line with the International Law of the Sea. The decision to extend territorial waters is a sovereign right of the country. It has made it clear that reserves the full right to extend its territorial waters to 12 nautical miles anywhere and anytime.
The two delegations will pick up where they left off in the 60th round of exploratory talks held in Athens on March 1, 2016.
Following a period of Turkish provocations and violations, and after the summit of the EU in December, when the «need for continued de-escalation to enable the rapid resumption and smooth continuation of direct exploratory talks between Greece and Turkey,» on January 11, the Turkish side, as the host, proposed January 25 as the date for the talks, which Greece accepted.
Welcoming the resumption of exploratory talks, the EU High Representative warned the Turkish foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, during their meeting on Brussels last week, that such efforts must be sustained and that intentions and announcements must be translated into action.
The process of confidential exploratory contacts was agreed upon in March 2002, as part of the Greek-Turkish rapprochement process launched in 1999; these are informal talks, not negotiations. It should be emphasized that no minutes are kept during these talks, and neither side assumes any obligations or commitments.
The aim is to explore whether and to what extent there is common ground and whether the conditions are met for the commencement of negotiations that could potentially lead to an agreement on the continental shelf and the Exclusive Economic Zone, in accordance with international law.
However, given that Turkey has not recognized the general compulsory jurisdiction of the Court, a special agreement (convention) is required to serve as the legal basis for the Court’s jurisdiction.
In addition to Istanbul, the Turkish side has hosted exploratory talks in Ankara, Bodrum, in Çeşme (Krini), and in Izmir, while Greece has hosted them in Athens, Nafplio, and Thessaloniki.
In the roughly two decades that have passed since the first meeting, 60 rounds of talks have been held, though their frequency has not been consistent.
There have been years in which more than ten rounds of talks took place and others in which there was only one, while there have been none in the last five years.
It is noteworthy that the early years were intense; by the end of 2004, 27 rounds of talks had taken place, by the end of 2010, that number had risen to 48, and it reached 60 on March 1, 2016.
