Uluslararası Hukukta Doğu Akdeniz Krizi ve Türkiye ile Libya Arasındaki Deniz Yetki Alanlarını Sınırlandırma Mutabakatının Değerlendirilmesi

The Eastern Mediterranean Basin has witnessed various disputes between numerous political powers throughout history. At the present time, particularly following the discovery of massive hydrocarbon reserves since the 2000’s, contending claims of the littoral states on the maritime jurisdiction zones started to come to the fore, thus a distribution crisis in the Eastern Mediterranean arose. The key point of this crisis was the distribution of maritime zones in accord with the equitable principles in international maritime law. One of the latest developments regarding the Eastern Mediterranean crisis was the Turkey-Libya Maritime Boundary Delimitation Agreement, signed by the Turkish government and Libyan Government of National Accord on November 27, 2019 with the purpose of determining the maritime boundaries between the two states. This Agreement was very important in terms of Turkey’s proactive manner for protecting its own sovereign rights in the Eastern Mediterranean. The purpose of this article is to examine the maritime delimitation rules and principles in international law and assess the provisions and legal foundations of the Agreement. In the first chapter, the current disputes in the Eastern Mediterranean are elaborated in order to understand the path towards the conclusion of the Agreement. Afterwards, the maritime delimitation rules and principles are reviewed with a detailed examination of the main international treaties and international case law. In the third chapter, the provisions of the Agreement are assessed within the frame of those rules and principles. In the final chapter, the legal foundations and debates revolving around the validity of the Agreement are discussed.