Time for Turkey to sign the UN Law of the Sea
From Mr David Tonge.
Sir, You report that Turkey has agreed to host the Black Sea section of the South Stream pipeline in its “territorial waters” (“Turkey deal boosts Russia’s pipeline project”, December 29).
The UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, which entered force in 1994, defines territorial waters as extending 12 nautical miles from a country’s coast. South Stream, if built, will be laid approximately 80 miles from Turkey, in what is not the country’s territorial waters but its “exclusive economic zone” (EEZ). The EEZ extends up to 200 nautical miles from a country’s coast.
The Law of the Sea requires countries to allow foreign states to lay pipelines and cables in their EEZ, but in practice the required exploration, drilling and seismic work are assumed to require coastal state sanction. It is this practice of which Turkey has taken advantage, even though Turkey has not signed the Law of the Sea.
This was negotiated when Turkey, then under a dictatorship, was weak internationally, and gave archipelagos – such as in the Aegean – much of what the Greeks were asking for. It would be good if Turkey, encouraged by the rights often enshrined in international law, were now to recognise the general benefits of the Law of the Sea and belatedly become a party to it – as well as playing a more contributive role in UN climate talks.
David Tonge, IBS Research & Consultancy, Istanbul, Turkey
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/9bdeb104-3247 ... z1iS1cYU1Y
