Turkey threatens Greece with War

The Greek decision to extend its territorial waters to 12 miles in the Aegean Sea will be regarded as a cause of war (casus belli) as declared by the Turkish Parliament in 1995, Turkey’s top diplomat Mehmet Cavusoglu has said. “This is reason for war. We will not allow for Greece to expand its territorial waters from six to 12 nautical miles,” Karar newspaper quoted Çavuşoğlu as saying.

Greece has the right to extend its territorial waters to 12 miles according to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), which stipulates in its article 3:

“Every State has the right to establish the breadth of its territorial sea up to a limit not exceeding 12 nautical miles, measured from baselines determined in accordance with this Convention.”

The UN Charter is forbidding categorically the use of military force and the threats of use of military force, except for self-defense purposes.

The Turkish declaration came after the Greek PM announced the extension of Greek territorial waters in Ionian Sea in the near future.

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