Hydrocarbons and the Law of the Sea in the Eastern Mediterranean: Implications for Cyprus, Greece, and Turkey

The issue of Cypriot oil seems to be gathering importance, and interested parties are trying to place themselves in positions of advantage. Large oil companies from the United States, China, France, Germany, Great Britain, Norway, and Russia seem to be interested in investing in the prospect of hydrocarbon deposits in Cyprus's Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). Turkey has not recognized the EEZ of Cyprus and, for decades, has not only opposed the United Nations' Convention on the Law of the Sea but it has interpreted and attempted to distort it to make gains in its maritime conflict with Greece and Cyprus in the eastern Mediterranean. Greece and Cyprus, on the other hand, were almost completely satisfied with the benefits of the Constitution of the Oceans, as it has also been known, and voted in favor of the convention.