THE EFFECT OF ARTICLE 121 OF THE UNITED NATIONS CONVENTION ON THE LAW OF THE SEA ON EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN: AN EVALUATION OF THE STATUS OF MEIS, KARAADA AND FENER ISLANDS

Meis, Karaada and Fener Islands are the basis for Greece's claim for a wide range of maritime jurisdiction areas in the Eastern Mediterranean. Greece claims that these islands should have a full effect in the delimitation of maritime jurisdiction areas by qualifying them as a “group”. Turkey does not accept this claim by virtue of delimitation rules. In this context, Meis, Karaada and Fener Islands should have no influence in terms of delimitation of exclusive economic zone and continental shelf and should only be content with territorial waters. Another rule on which Turkey can based its claims to ensure the ineffectiveness of the islands concerned is the article 121/3 of United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. Indeed, whether these islands are rock in the sense of the aforementioned article, they will be ineffective in delimiting these areas since they cannot generate the exclusive economic zone and the continental shelf. This will be an argument that contributes to the Turkish theses on the Eastern Mediterranean. In this study, the status of these islands are evaluated in the context of the criteria determined in the South China Sea Arbitration