Law No. 476 on Territorial Waters, 1964

STRAIGHT 3ASELWES: TURKEY The Government of Turkey, on May 15, 1964, orornu1gated Law ~lo. 476 co~cerninq the territorial waters of the state. Articl~ 4 provides fo~ the construct!on of straiqllt baselines where the national coast 1s indented or ,s ~ordered by 1slan~s. The text ~f the law, w~ich also defines the limits of the ~err1t~r1al sea as 6 ~aut1cal miles in the Aeqean and Mediterranean seas and 12 nautical miles in the Black Sea, is as fo11ows: TERRITORIAL U/\TERS LAH Ratification date: 15 May 1964 A~TICLE 1 - Turkish territorial waters constitute an inteqral part of the Turkish territory. The width of the Turkish territorial waters is six nautical miles(*) In tne aoolication of this present law, the nautical mile equals 1 ,852 meters. ARTICLE 2 - Against Stites claiming wider territorial waters, the width of Turkish territorial waters is detennined on the basis of reciprocity. ARTICLE 3 - In the case of a State adjoining the territory of Turkey, and whose distance from the Turkish coast is less than the sum of the widths of their respective territorial waters, the median· line does constitute the outer boundary of the Turkish territorial waters, unless othen-,ise agreed upon. ARTICLE 4 - The normal base line from ~vhich the vtidth of the territorial waters is measured, is the lowest ebb line extending along the coast. In indented coasts, or in areas with islands located close to the shore, the method of the straight base line connecting the foremost points of the shore and the islands does apply. ARTICLE 5 - Waters in the coastal side of the base lines; gulfs with an entrance opening of not more than 24 nautical miles; for gulfs with an entrance opening of more than 24 nautical miles, the portion located behind the 24-mile straight base line connecting two opposite shores of the gulf by leaving the largest body of water on the territorial side; waters situated in the hither side of the outennost pennanent installations fanning an integral part of the port system; roads and outer ports* all are considered as Turkish internal waters. ARTICLE 6 • The territor-ia1 waters of islands are detennined on the principles mentioned above. ARTICLE 7 - Base lines used for the measuring of the width of territorial waters are shown on large-scale charts and released to interested parties. ARTICLE 8 ~ In areas contiguous to Turkish territorial waters and extending up to 12 nautical miles from the base lines used for the measurement of territorial waters, the territorial waters regime is in force regarding fishinq and exploitation of living resources. * This distance is twelve nautical miles for the Black Sea. 2 ARTICLE 9 - The provisions of international treaties, conventions and agreements to which Turkey is a Contracting Party remain valid. The clauses of previous lav,s and regulations \'Iha may contradict the provisions of this present law are hereby void. ARTICLE 10 - This 1 aw enters into force three months after its promulgation. ARTICLE 11 - The provisions of this law are enforced by the Cabinet. 20 May 1964 The straight baselines drawn by the Turkish Government are represented on the sma11-sca1e chart Turki e, Karasu1ari esas ve Ouz Hatlari Haritasi, 8003, 1:1,100,000, 17 May 1965 [Turkis Hy rograp, 1c Service . Tne overnment o ur ey as not signed the Geneva Convention on the Territorial Sea and Contiguous Zan~. Analysis and Summary ihe coordinate values of the turning points for the straight baselines have not been published; moreover, the scale of the chart illustrating the lines is too small to pennit an accurate and detailed analysis of the straight baseline segments. Several points, however, may be noted. No single segment is greater than 24 nautical miles in length although several are greater than 20 nautical miles. The longest, a bay closing line for Iskenderun bay. measures approximately 23.5 nautical miles in length. The bay is a· juridical bay. The Turkish straight baseline system, in general encloses a "deeply indented or cut into" coast rather than one "fringed with islands''; most Aegean is 1 ands are under Green sovereignty. In the north. however, the t\'iO principal Turkish islands. Imroz and 3ozca ada, are enclosed within the system. The straight baseline system appears to contain at least 119 individual segments. The total length of the system measures approximately 1,150 kilometers or 621 nautical miles. As stated, the longest baseline measures approximately 23.5 nautical miles. The average length is approximately 5.2 nautical miles. Of particular interest, the Straits area is enclosed by the straight baselines. In fact, the closing line of the eastern end of the Bosphorus is the only segment in the Black Sea. Free transit of the Straits is the subject, of course, of the Montreux Convention of July 20, 1936 (173 LNTS 213,219). Turkey Straight Baselines 41' I I 40'' 37 Pnkp 22' 23' 24' 22' 23' 24' From H ,0, -4300, 16th Edition, Mud, 1951, revised 3 I) 70 25' 25' ~q~l!,•q '--'-~/1 I 26' \, 26' 27' 27' 28" 29' 11)·1'• ,094 o ltUt..hys 28' 29' 30' 29° 30' 31 ° 111-\4 <'J lltt:U .. •.hya T u J 29' 30° 31 ° 32° B LA C 32' 33' K 33° 12')1 •.,. Ot 34' 35° v. 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