The continental shelf issues emerged in 1973 when oil was discovered in the Aegean and both countries started granting competing exploration rights. The airspace issue dates from 1931 when Greece first claimed sovereign airspace of 10 miles over the Aegean whereas Ankara's position is that the airspace should correspond to the territorial sea. This would effectively turn the Aegean in a Greek Lake. The Greek Parliament has already enacted the necessary enabling legislation, but it has not yet been promulgated. Ankara strongly opposes this Greek action.
Some Greek islands are a few miles away from the Turkish coast.
Unlike Greece, Turkey did not sign the Law of the Sea. Turkish government has repeatedly warned that the Greek action to extend territorial seas to 12 miles would be treated as casus belli. Turkey views the Aegean as a special case and proposes equitable sharing bases on bilateral dialogue. Athens feels weak and insecure to enter bilateral talks and wishes to refer to dispute to Western judicial bodies such as the International Court of Justice. Ankara, however, is reluctant to do so since it feels unwelcome in Europe.