The problem of delimiting the continental shelf and exclusive economic zone between Turkey and Greece is one of the many issues that currently dominate the international relations between the two countries. Although legal principles can be identified that apply to this dispute, the drawing of boundary lines is intrinsically a political process and is usually accomplished by direct negotiations between the states. Increasingly in recent years, however, states have turned to arbitral or judicial tribunals to resolve disputes involving maritime boundaries, and the decisions of these tribunals have identified and developed legal principles than can now be drawn upon to resolve difficult boundary controversies. After examining the controversy between Turkey and Greece, this article will analyze the recent arbitral and judicial decisions and explore how the principles used in these decisions might apply to the delimitation of the maritime boundary between Turkey and Greece in the Aegean Sea.
