Thodoros Kariotis: EEZ: Cyprus ignored and the slyness of Egypt

Greece has been waiting for 38 whole years to deal with the EEZ, but there are still thome who still call it an Independent Economic Zone. But now Athens has gained momentum, after the demarcation with Italy, and wants to proceed with other EEZ demarcations with the neighboring coastal states. So after Italy it’s the turn of Egypt. But there is a big, very big question. Why does Greece refuse to officially demarcate its EEZ with that of the Republic of Cyprus?

The demarcation of the EEZ between the two states of Greece and Cyprus took place ten years ago and includes the geographical coordinates that recognize full influence on the Kastellorizo island complex! Even a map exists that shows this demarcation, very similar to the map below.

Greece-Cyprus EEZ demarcation map.

Why has the Greek government refused to delimit its EEZ with Cyprus since 2004? You can’t imagine the frustration of the Cypriots when they see Nikos Dendias landing in Cairo to discuss EEZ with the Egyptian government, instead of heading to Larnaca airport.

Costas Venizelos expressed the feelings of his Cypriot brethren when he wrote:

“It is clear that if Greece reaches a partial agreement with Egypt on EEZs, it will mean that it is leaving Cyprus. This means that it is abandoning the space that unites the two states. This is because it does not want to provoke Turkey. It will be an act of self-immolation for Hellenism, an action of adaptation to the demands of the occupying power “.

As I recently pointed out: “Information in the media indicate that the Greek Prime Minister wants to go ahead with a partial demarcation with Egypt, which, as you know, UNCLOS does not allow for, nor does it allow for partial expansion of the maritime zone. It is also said that the sea east of the 28th parallel will be ignored, which means the death of the EEZ of the tortured island “.

The cunning of Egypt

Egypt’s position has been well known since when Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis’ visit to Cairo in 2009. When she sat down at the negotiating table, the Egyptian delegation informed her that in two days after her the Turkish delegation would be sitting at the same table and would also discuss the issue of demarcation between Egypt and Turkey. Mrs. Bakoyannis did not leave the table, but continued to discuss the demarcation of the two states’ EEZs.

Egypt is aware, under UNCLOS, that it has no maritime borders with Turkey but continues to indirectly show that it has maritime borders with Turkey. From the beginning it seemed that Egypt did not want to give full influence to Greek islands, and not just Kastellorizo and Strongyli.

Egypt also tried to use the issue of influence in the demarcation with Cyprus. Cairo did not want to give full influence to Cyprus, because it was an island. The Cypriots reacted and silenced them. They knew that Egypt had demarcated the EEZ / continental shelf with Saudi Arabia, which did not want to give full influence to the Egyptian islands of Tiran and Sanafir, located off the coast of Saudi Arabia, as the next map shows. However, the Egyptians persisted and gained full influence over their islands.

Egypt’s demarcation with Saudi Arabia in the Red Sea.

Thus, knowing the above agreement, Cyprus forced Egypt to accept that Cyprus has full influence. So we understand that General Sisi does not want to infuriate Erdogan and is interested in a partial (some call it “partial”, because it sounds better) delimitation of the EEZ with Greece west of the 28th meridian, in order to avoid the discussion of the influence of Kastellorizo and Strongyli. If Greece implements such a demarcation, it will be committing suicide.

Such a demarcation may be intended to invalidate the illegal Turkish-Libyan memorandum, but Greece cannot make a demarcation, that UNCLOS does not allow, just to highlight Turkey’s illegality. One of the weapons that Greece has and demonstrates everywhere is that it respects the law of the sea, while it denounces Turkey for constantly violating it. So you can understand how elated Erdogan and Cavusoglu will feel, when we start violating UNCLOS.

A very provocative Mr Cavusoglu

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlet Çavusoglu has made new provocative statements, targeting Kastellorizo and questioning whether islands have a continental shelf. Regarding the Aegean, the Turkish Foreign Minister stated:

“Greece now says the islands have a continental shelf. And we say that not every island can have a continental shelf, especially the islands, which are far from the mainland and are close to Turkey, cannot have a continental shelf. Greece claims that Kastellorizo, which has an area of 10 sq.km. and is located opposite Kas, may have a maritime zone of 40,000 sq. km. They are trying to leave us this red zone. They published a map of Seville. We say that this cannot happen, but Greece has this dream. Kastellorizo is two kilometers away from us and 570 from Greece “.

Even today, Turks always avoid talking about EEZs. They continue to refer to the continental shelf, as if there is no EEZ. Cavusoglu’s most outrageous statement concerns Israel when it claims that Turkey has maritime borders with Israel! This is laughable even for children taking their first global geography lessons.

All this may sound academic, but Kyriakos Mitsotakis’ government, in the autumn and before the US presidential election, will face a dangerous reality check and will be called upon to defend Greek sovereign rights when the erratic Erdogan, having the full support of his friend in the White House, will decide to send the first seismic research ships and then a floating drilling rig to the Greek EEZ / continental shelf south of Crete.

Bold statements

So, after the statements of Admiral Apostolakis for the leveling of an islet, if Turkish troops land on it, came the message of the head of Hellenic Armed Forces General Staff (GEETHA), General Konstantinos Floros, which was shocking in every way: “Whoever steps on our soil, we will burn them first and then we will ask who they are”.

The ghost of the EEZ continues to haunt Turkey. It is well known that Turkey considers the EEZ to be its biggest enemy in the Eastern Mediterranean. Ankara is ready to ante up the game and believes that now is a great opportunity to create a fait accomplis in the Eastern Mediterranean by taking advantage of the Turkish-Libyan memorandum and scoping out the sea, which has belonged to Greece for centuries.