Ocean and Coastal Law Journal Volume 17 | Number 1 Article 5 2011 The miI a Islets: A Beginning To The aM ritime Delimitation Of The Aegean Sea Dispute Emily A. Georgiades, Barrister Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.mainelaw.maine.edu/oclj Recommended Citation Emily A. Georgiades, Barrister, The Imia Islets: A Beginning To The Maritime Delimitation Of The Aegean Sea Dispute, 17 Ocean & Coastal L.J. (2011). Available at: http://digitalcommons.mainelaw.maine.edu/oclj/vol17/iss1/5 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Journals at University of Maine School of Law Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Ocean and Coastal Law Journal by an authorized administrator of University of Maine School of Law Digital Commons. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. THE IMIA ISLETS: A BEGINNING TO THE MARITIME DELIMITATION OF THE AEGEAN SEA DISPUTE Emily A. Georgiades, Barrister∗ I. INTRODUCTION Since the fall of the Ottoman Empire, Greece and Turkey have each been vying for territory within their common waters in the Aegean Sea. For over five decades, the two governments have contested the territorial sovereignty of the two rocky islets of Imia, the delimitation of the continental shelf and the territorial sea, and whether the continental shelf is a natural prolongation of Greece or Turkey’s mainland coast.1 Not surprisingly then, the two countries have disagreed on where to draw the respective border in the Aegean Sea2 and, perhaps more fundamentally, on the application of certain practices under international law.3 The Aegean Sea is itself unique being 400 miles long and 200 miles wide, with thousands of islands scattered throughout it.4 Of particular importance are the Imia rocks and islets, which are scattered approximately 4 miles off Turkey’s west mainland coast, in the southeast * Barrister-at-Law of the Honorable Society of Lincoln’s Inn, New York State licensed attorney, License at Law (Cyprus), M.A.