Greek Defense Minister Nikos Dendias on Thursday revisited the issue of territorial waters and Athens’ right, under UNCLOS, to unilaterally extend the latter to 12 nautical miles from any sovereign territory, including the islands in the Aegean.
Speaking on an Athens television channel’s early afternoon newscast, Dendias reiterated that Athens neither threatens, nor does it challenge or wants to revise international treaties, “at the same time, however, it cannot remain silent to a provocation, not only against Greece, but against international law.”
“However, if the Turkish side wishes, within the framework of international law, to find a solution to the problem (of delimitating maritime zones in the Aegean), we can certainly find a solution to the problem, and Greece will be the first to extend a hand. But within the framework of international law, not through the imposition of force,” he said, adding:
“And in any case, the imposition of force presupposes a powerless party, and we are not hapless.”
