ABSTRACT
The cardinal importance of the territorial sea issue should be viewed in the light of the regional uniqueness of the Aegean and its complex and singular structure. As has been explained in the preceding sections, the unique geographical configuration of the Aegean is dominated by the presence of some 1000 Greek islands of varying sizes scattered throughout the narrow sea, which represents a limited basin having modest dimensions. Some of these islands are in close vicinity of the Turkish coasts, as close as few nautical miless. These islands, under Greek sovereignty, which lie along the Aegean coasts of Turkey, create virtually a fringe. Consequently, the Greek islands and their adjacent territorial sea excessively encircles and masks nearly 85% of a long mainland coastline in a close distance. These islands and their territorial sea at present 6 nautical miles breadth already occupy nearly half of the total space of the Aegean sea.
