“To Vima” asked Dr Marika Karagiannisjurist – international expert specializing in energy, professor at the Democritus University, to describe the effects of a possible signing of a memorandum between Ankara and Damascus in the Turkish-Libyan standards.
What are the differences between the Turkish-Libyan and a possible Turkish-Syrian memorandum?
“First of all, if one looks at the map, one realizes that it is a neighboring state with and has opposite coasts, so it can, based on the Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), make a maritime delimitation agreement with Syria, regardless if it has not signed and does not implement UNCLOS. Well, a Turkish-Syrian memorandum or maritime delimitation agreement cannot be characterized as illegal, as is the case with the Turkish-Libyan one, which ignores the geographical existence of Crete, half of the Dodecanese and part of the coast of Egypt.
It will be illegal if it also includes the occupied northern part of Cyprus, with which Syria also has opposite coasts, but of course it is not recognized internationally, except by Turkey. It is recalled that a total of 168 states have signed UNCLOS and only 15 have not, including Syria, as well as Turkey and Israel, which nevertheless apply the provisions of the Convention selectively (Turkey has defined an EEZ in the Black Sea with the other coastal states after the collapse of the former Soviet Union, while Israel has signed bilateral maritime zone agreements with Cyprus in 2010 and with Lebanon in 2022)”.
Would the conclusion of a Turkey-Syria memorandum also strengthen the one with Libya?
“The Turkish-Libyan memorandum has no force and does not produce legal results. Also, since 2019, when it was signed, until today no step has been taken towards its implementation, neither from the Libyan nor from the Turkish side, despite the frequent communication statements of the Turkish leadership.
However, the signing of a Turkish-Syrian memorandum will add to Turkey’s quiver and strengthen its revisionist policy both in the Middle East and the Mediterranean. Turkey has footholds in Syria, part of which it believes should belong to Turkish sovereignty, as the Turkish president very eloquently stated after Assad left. That is why he is working towards redrawing the borders in Syria, starting with the land borders in the North and then he will also go to the sea borders.”
What would be the implications, especially for Greece, of a possible Turkish-Syrian memorandum?
“The effects will directly concern Cyprus and indirectly Greece. It should be considered certain that Turkey will “close” the entire maritime area between Syria and Cyprus, depriving Nicosia of the ability to define its maritime borders in the North and East. A memorandum with Syria is included in her theory and we must not forget the maps of the admiral e.a. Cihat Yatsi, who propose such demarcations with all the countries of the Eastern Mediterranean, except Cyprus, who in fact already urged the Turkish president to make an EEZ agreement with Syria (18.12.24), adding that Turkey should not be afraid the Greek Cypriot side”.
