Greek National Defense Minister Nicholas Panagiotopoulos said Turkey’s threat of war was more indicative of provocative revisionism than a NATO ally’s behavior.
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Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu issued direct threats against Greece on Thursday and warned Athens against expanding its territorial waters in the Aegean Sea. According to Cavusoglu, in recent days the Greek press has been writing that the territorial waters of Greece will be expanded to 12 miles around Crete, but Turkey will not allow the expansion of Greek waters even by one mile in the Aegean Sea. The head of the Turkish Foreign Ministry, referring to the casus belli on the part of Ankara, said that the decision of the Turkish Parliament of 1995 on this issue is clear and remains in force. Turkey has previously said it will consider the expansion of Greek waters as a casus belli.
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“This statement about the casus belli, which refers to the ability of Greece to exercise a legitimate right, is more about provocative revisionism than about the behavior of an ally within the North Atlantic alliance. So this should be a concern for many,” Panayotopoulos said.
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Speaking about the escalation of Ankara’s extreme rhetoric, the minister said that Greece is not threatened, but it also does not like being threatened either.
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“The government rules the country and acts on the basis of national interests and on the basis of the rules governing peaceful coexistence between states, that is, international law, based on international law,” Panagiotopoulos said.
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Turkey believes that if Greece expands its territorial waters, which are now six miles, to 12 miles, it will practically close Turkish waters and cut off Turkey’s ability to reach international waters, and Turkey will be locked in its territorial waters.
