After the First World War and the Minor Asia War between Greece and Turkey, the

British
Empire, France, Italy, the Kingdom of Romania, the Empire of Japan, the Kingdom of Greece
and Turkey signed the Treaty of Lausanne on 24 July 1923, which established the Turkish
borders and a compulsory exchange of populations between Greece and Turkey.
Greece established a territorial sea of 6 nautical miles, while declaring that the national airspace
extends to 10 nautical miles (Law 230/1936 and Decree-Law 187/1973). In 1947, following the
Paris Agreements, Italy sold the territory of the Dodecanese Islands to Greece. Greece
succeeded Italy in the delimitation agreement signed with Turkey.
Tensions between Turkey and Greece recur over maritime and air delimitation in the Aegean
and Eastern Mediterranean. However, the International Court of Justice declared itself
incompetent when it was seized by Greece to rule on the delimitation of the Aegean continental
shelf.
Following the negotiations of the Third Conference on the Law of the Sea and the adoption of
the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), Greece declared that it was
entitled to extend the breadth of its territorial sea to 12 nautical miles if it so wished. The Turkish
National Assembly issued a resolution on 8 June 1995 which gave the Turkish government full
powers to declare war on Greece if it did so (casus belli).
In January 1996, Turkey declared its sovereignty over the two uninhabited islets of
Imia/Kardak, which are located in the Dodecanese, 300 metres apart, 3.7 km east of the Greek
island of Kalimnos and 4.5 km from the coast of the Turkish peninsula of Bodrum.
Specifically, on 27 January 1996, Turkish commandos lowered the Greek flag and raised the
Turkish flag. The next day, the Greek Navy lowered the Turkish flag and raised the Greek flag.
Then Turkish warships started to move in the area, guarded by Greek ships. Greece reported a
landing of military forces on the second islet. Also a member of NATO, the USA intervened to
mediate and monitor the withdrawal of troops to defuse the crisis.

In the early 2000s, the two countries began to hold discussions to resolve the problems in the
Aegean Sea. But these were complicated and did not succeed. In the meantime, the region's rich
hydrocarbon potential was confirmed. On 27 November 2019 Turkish President Recep Tayyip
Erdogan signed a maritime delimitation agreement with the president of the UN-backed Libyan
government, which encroached on the maritime area claimed by Greece south of Crete. Egypt
and Greece protested against this agreement and signed an agreement between them to delimit
their EEZs in 2020.
On 10 August 2020, the Turkish seismic vessel Oruç Reis, was exploring the seabed of a marine
area claimed by Greece next to Kastellorizo Island, an island 2 kilometers south of the Turkish
coast, for hydrocarbons. Greece has its air fleet fly over the area. The next day, the Greek
Minister of Foreign Affairs, Nikos Denias, declared that "Greece will defend its sovereignty
and its rights, we ask Turkey to leave the Greek continental shelf". The Turkish President
declared on 26 August that "Turkey will take what is rightfully itss in the Black Sea, the Aegean
and the Mediterranean, we will not make any concessions on what belongs to us" and contested
the fact that Kastellorizo Island was part of Greece's EEZ. On Sunday 13 September the ship
Oruç Reis left the Greek maritime zone, after more than a month of searching, despite repeated
requests from the European Union and Greece to stop it. Turkish Defence Minister Hulusi Akar
said "there will be return trips", while Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said "this is a
first positive step (...). I hope there will be more" and that Athens "is always ready to start
exploratory contacts with Turkey". On 14 October 2020, new searches in the south of the Greek
island are implemented by the research vessel.

The situation is still unresolved between Greece and Turkey and tensions could escalate at any
moment. At the heart of the dispute is the issue of the delimitation of the territorial sea, the EEZ
and the continental shelf.

As Turkey categorically refuses to go to the ICJ and negotiations for a delimitation agreement
fail, the two states end up choosing arbitration as a means of settling their dispute. They signed
a compromise agreement recognizing the jurisdiction of an arbitral tribunal under the auspices
of the PCA.

For the first hearing of the tribunal, each party has 20 minutes to present its arguments.