THE LONGSTANDING DISPUTE BETWEEN TURKEY AND GREECE: THE AEGEAN ISSUE.

The aim of this paper is to investigate Turkey's longstanding problematic relations with Greece regarding the Aegean dispute and the impact of this dispute on the EU-Turkey relations and vice-versa. It argues that, first, the Aegean Sea issue is one of the main problems between Greece and Turkey as well as the European Union (EU) and Turkey. Due to the increasing debates over the sources and statues of Aegean Sea and East Mediterranean, the struggle between the Turks and Greeks to establish and extend their zones of jurisdiction over the Aegean and Mediterranean Seas maintain to be a fundamental issue between Greece and Turkey and the EU and Turkey. Second, the problematic relationship between the EU and Turkey prevents the EU from having a positive impact on the Turkish-Greek conflict as well as Turkey's policy toward the Aegean issue. The quality and peace of EU-Turkey relations are and will be, therefore, determinant in the solution of this longstanding dispute between sides as well as the transformation of Turkey's policy toward the Aegean issue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]