Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book discusses the East Med states’ positions on certain core maritime issues held during the law of the sea conferences. It addresses the discovery of offshore hydrocarbon deposits and the boundary delimitation agreements signed between the states under concern prompted by those discoveries. The book delves into the regional states’ overlapping maritime claims, activities in undelimited maritime areas and the ensuing disputes. It analyses the legal regime and maritime claims of non-state actors in the East Med. The most heated debates took place between Greece and Turkey on the territorial sea breadth, the regime of islands, enclosed and semi-enclosed seas and maritime delimitation in view of the Aegean Sea dispute. The book examines and evaluates maritime claims and sea-related activities through the lens of the conventional and customary international law of the sea, as well as general international law.