Greece is historically a maritime nation with 6,000 islands and the longest coastline in the Med, yet has the smallest maritime area of jurisdiction in the world.
The reason behind this: a 🇹🇷 threat of war should Greece chooses to exercise its sovereign rights in the Aegean.
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The reason behind this: a 🇹🇷 threat of war should Greece chooses to exercise its sovereign rights in the Aegean.
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Under customary international law, Greece has a legal right to extend its territorial sea to 12nm in the Aegean Sea. The right for the expansion of territorial waters is an inalienable sovereign right that cannot be disputed by third countries.
The overwhelming majority of coastal states in the world have expanded their territorial waters to 12 nautical miles.
Turkey itself has extended its territorial waters to 12nm in the Black Sea and the Mediterranean already since 1964.
Turkey itself has extended its territorial waters to 12nm in the Black Sea and the Mediterranean already since 1964.
For a long time, territorial seas stretched as far as a state could exercise control from
land. That was linked to the distance of a cannon shot fired from shore. This was considered to be about 3nm.
land. That was linked to the distance of a cannon shot fired from shore. This was considered to be about 3nm.
With the negotiation of the 1982 UN’s Law of the Sea Convention, the allowed breadth of a territorial sea claim was extended to 12nm. UNCLOS is the only international agreement that defines the rights & responsibilities of nations with respect to their use of the world’s oceans.
UNCLOS has been signed by 167 states & the EU. Non-signatories are still bound by many of the provisions of UNCLOS, as they are now generally accepted as reflecting customary international law, to which all states must adhere.
According to UN’s Law of the Sea, all islands & rocks, however small/ insignificant, can generate a territorial sea of 12nm from their baselines. This general rule is customary law and is binding.
Greece has more than 3,000 islands in the Aegean, and Greece's interest in the security of, and sovereignty over, these islands is paramount.
According to international law, all the Greek islands in the Aegean are entitled to their own territorial sea of 12nm.
According to international law, all the Greek islands in the Aegean are entitled to their own territorial sea of 12nm.
In accordance with Article 121 (2) of the Convention of the Law of the Sea, islands also have a right to a contiguous zone, an exclusive economic zone and a continental shelf.
This general rule is also customary law and is binding.
This general rule is also customary law and is binding.
The EU has published in its official maps the Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZ) of its coastal states according to international law and clearly shows the extent of the EEZ that Greece is legally entitled to.
Turkey has notoriously refused to ratify the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) of 1982 in order to frustrate the rights afforded to the Greek islands in the Aegean and Eastern Mediterranean.
Realizing the consequences of a legal Greek territorial sea extension, the Turkish National Assembly issued a resolution in 1995 granting the Turkish government full & perpetual competence to declare war (casus belli) should Greece decide to extend its territorial waters over 6nm
Turkey’s casus belli is in blatant violation of a fundamental rule of intl law; Article 2.4 of the UN Charter, which stipulates that all member-states shall refrain from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of other states.
Ironically, Turkey has extended its territorial waters to 12nm in the Black Sea and the Mediterranean and in 1986 proclaimed a 200nm EEZ in the Black Sea.
Both, in accordance with the provisions of UNCLOS, which Turkey has never signed or ratified!
Both, in accordance with the provisions of UNCLOS, which Turkey has never signed or ratified!
The Turkish claim that the extension of the Greek territorial sea will deprive Turkey from its fundamental rights, such as access to the high seas, is untenable.
Under the Law of the Sea, the right of innocent & transit passage is fully safeguarded and even expanded.
Under the Law of the Sea, the right of innocent & transit passage is fully safeguarded and even expanded.
The reality is that Turkey is simply refusing to accept the maritime rights of its neighbors, and as such, making claims against their maritime sovereignty through its illegal Blue Homeland doctrine.
Turkey wants to limit Greek sovereign rights in the whole of the Aegean. Turkey's principle aim is to exploit the natural resources of the Aegean seabed, as well as to enclave the Greek islands of the Eastern Aegean in an area of Turkish jurisdiction.
Turkey has been systematically building a list of so called "🇬🇷🇹🇷disputes” however there is actually only one valid dispute between the two countries:
The delimitation of the continental shelf & EEZ.
Unilateral & illegal Turkish claims do not constitute bilateral disputes.
The delimitation of the continental shelf & EEZ.
Unilateral & illegal Turkish claims do not constitute bilateral disputes.
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