'Seville Map' On Maritime Borders In East Mediterranean Not Legally Binding - US Embassy

ANKARA (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 22nd September, 2020) Washington does not consider the so-called Seville Map, which claims to delineate maritime boundaries between Turkey and Greece in the Eastern Mediterranean, to have any legal significance, the US embassy in Ankara said.

According to the map, which was developed by Spain's University of Seville in 2004, the boundaries of the continental shelf that Greece and Cyprus lay claim to in the Mediterranean are EU borders, which raises objections among the Turkish leadership.

"The United States as a matter of global policy does not take positions on other states' maritime boundary disputes. With respect to the 'legal status' of the Seville map, the United States does not consider the Seville Map to have any legal significance. We understand the European Union does not consider the Seville Map to be a legally binding document," the embassy said in a statement posted on Twitter late on Monday.

The embassy added that maritime boundaries "are for the states concerned to resolve by agreement on the basis of international law."

"The United States strongly supports good faith dialogue and negotiation and encourages Greece and Turkey to resume exploratory talks as soon as possible," the statement added.

�The Turkish-Greek tensions in the Eastern Mediterranean escalated after Ankara began exploration drilling in the Greek-claimed waters in early August. Athens considers this territory to be its exclusive economic zone and has mobilized its armed forces to high alert, vowing to protect its sovereign rights by all means.

Meanwhile, the Republic of Cyprus and Turkey have been engaged in a prolonged dispute over the offshore drilling rights since the discovery of the first gas deposits off the coast of the island in 2011, with Ankara rejecting the exclusive economic zone claims of Nicosia.