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In 2007, with the support of the Spanish Ministry of Education and Science, professors Juan Luis Suárez de Vivero and Juan Carlos Rodríguez Mateos from the University of Seville recorded the maritime geography of Europe with detailed maps and graphics, publishing the European Atlas of the seas. and Oceans “(” Atlas of European seas and oceans Marine jurisdictions, uses of the sea and governance “).
This important project, which in addition to territorial issues includes a summary of all the main maritime uses and activities in European seas, was subsequently adopted in its entirety by the European Commission, as part of the EU’s integrated maritime policy strategy. ., also known as the “Blue Book”.
In their introductory text, Professors Vivero and Mateos, considered the top experts in maritime geography in Europe, point out that due to the new conditions that are shaping the maritime sovereignty of the EU member states. it will be increasingly part of the political agenda. “Europe – and in particular the European Union, which already includes a group of twenty-seven countries – faces two oceans and four seas, with waters of jurisdiction that extend from subtropical latitudes to areas near the North Pole. There is a political dimension in the projection of national sovereignty over the seas and oceans that is not limited to territorial issues, reorganizing the symbols on the political map, as well as influencing the way in which the territory of a state is governed, for what maritime affairs increasingly involved in the political agenda. “Therefore, an atlas of maritime Europe is justified by the need to reflect this circumstance and its main purpose is to record this new geography on maps and graphs,” say the Spanish professors.
The Vivero and Mateos maps and graphics include the EEZ map of the EU member states. as has been the case with transnational agreements, unilateral declarations (mainly in overseas possessions in the North Atlantic) and the hypothetical middle line defined by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). Since according to the UNCLOS Convention the islands have a coastal zone and an EEZ, the Seville Charter, as it was known, delimits the right of the EEZ to Kastelorizo, allowing the connection of Greek and Cypriot EEZs in the Eastern Mediterranean. All the maps that exist in the study of Spanish teachers present the AOZ Greece and Cyprus in the same way and the same size.
Unofficial map, but …
Last August, at the beginning of the crisis in the Eastern Mediterranean, the Turkish daily Hurriyet asked the European Commission if the “Seville Charter” reflected the legal position of the EU. for maritime jurisdictions in the Mediterranean. The commission’s spokesperson replied: “The external reports prepared by the institutions do not constitute official EU documents and have no legal or political force for the EU,” adding that “issues related to the delimitation of maritime spaces and the The use of water resources can only be dealt with in good faith, in accordance with international law and through dialogue and negotiations in accordance with good neighborly relations. “
Position similar to that of the EU recently expressed and the United States. In a statement on its Twitter account, the US Embassy in Ankara states that: “The United States” As a matter of principle, does not take a position on other states’ disputes over maritime jurisdiction, “it said, adding that” with Regarding the Charter of Seville, the United States does not consider that the Charter of Seville has legal personality. “We understand that the EU does not consider the Seville Charter to be a legally binding document.” According to the United States Embassy: “maritime responsibilities are determined by agreements under international law of the competent states.”
Ankara and the pro-government media made the EU positions a “flag”. and the United States by the Charter of Seville, claiming that: “they stay away from the positions of Greece” due to the full influence of the islands. However, they deliberately ignore the fact that the EU and US statements refer to the legal status of the map and not the object it represents and is in accordance with the provisions of International Law and the Law of the Sea, which all except Turkey they constantly invoke.
It is characteristic that in an official document of the European Commission (2015), entitled: “The EU and international ocean governance” a map is published showing the EEZs of all EU member states. and where, clearly, not only Greece’s EEZ but also the fact that it has a maritime border with Cyprus is determined.
According to Mr. Theodoros Karyotis, emeritus professor of economics at the University of Maryland, USA, an expert on the subject of SEZs, all maps of the EU capture reality as it emerges under international law. “The official maps of the EU show that Greece has a maritime border with Cyprus and especially the fact that the EEZ of the island of Strongyli has full influence and is adjacent to the EEZ of the Republic of Cyprus,” he notes significantly.
The fear of Ankara
Turkey systematically seeks to repeal the “Seville Charter” in practice, stating that it has no power over it, stressing that it “does not contribute to peace and stability” and urging Greece and the EU to do the same. to deny it. In a recent interview with CNN Turk, Turkish Foreign Minister Melvut Tsavousoglu even made it a prerequisite for the start of the Greek-Turkish dialogue, an official declaration by Greece that it does not accept the “Seville Charter” for the definition of maritime areas. by sea. . Of course, something that did not happen since our country demands a dialogue in accordance with the provisions of International Law and the Law of the Sea, which, however, Turkey does not recognize.
According to the Turkish news agency Anadolu, Vivero, one of the professors at the University of Seville, was quoted in an article as saying: “Turkey could not accept this map because its EEZ was too small and it did not create economic and geopolitical problems.”
Professor Hakan Karam, Director of the Center for Research and Applications of Maritime Law at the University of Ankara, described the Vivero and Mateos study as “one-sided”, reiterating Turkey’s strong position that the Aegean Sea and the eastern Mediterranean should be closed. . Or “closed” seas and interpret the Law of the Sea, in the interest of Ankara. He even commented that the implementation of the “Seville Charter” is the new Greek “Big Idea” in the Eastern Mediterranean. “This strategy is part of the ‘Big Idea’ of Greece, in the context of its gradual expansion,” he said provocatively.
Oriental … International Law
However, the Greek side never invoked the “Charter of Seville”. According to the internationalist and ND deputy Mr. Angelos Syrigos: “The limits of the Greek continental shelf and in general of the Greek maritime zones are determined by article 4001 of 2011, better known as the” Maniatis law “. there is a demarcation agreed with neighboring states, the median line is considered a temporary border ”, says Mr. Syrigos.
The temporary drawing according to the Maniatis law, however, does not differ from the printing in the unofficial “Seville Charter”, as it is the result of everything that the UNCLOS Convention provides, but Turkey is not a party, for obvious reasons. Hence Ankara’s attempt to “demonize” it
