Thread: Russian Arms Exports to Greece, Cyprus and Turkey

Originally Posted by LetsTalk

From WIKIPEDIA:
"The territorial waters

Territorial waters give the littoral state full control over air navigation in the airspace above, and partial control over shipping, although foreign ships (both civil and military) are normally guaranteed innocent passage through them. The standard width of territorial waters that countries are customarily entitled to has steadily increased in the course of the 20th century: from initially 3 nautical miles at the beginning of the century, to 6 miles, and currently 12 miles (c.22 km). The 12-mile value has been enshrined in treaty law by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea of 1982 (Art.3). In the Aegean the territorial waters claimed by both sides are still at 6 miles. The possibility of an extension to 12 miles has fuelled Turkish concerns over a possible disproportionate increase in Greek-controlled space. Turkey has refused to become a member of the convention and does not consider itself bound by it, although it has applied the customary 12 miles on its other coastlines outside the Aegean. Turkey considers the convention as res inter alios acta, i.e. a treaty that can only be binding to the signing parties but not to others. Greece, which is a party to the convention, has stated that it reserves the right to apply this rule and extend its waters to 12 miles at some point in the future, although it has never actually attempted to do so. It holds that the 12-mile rule is not only treaty law but also customary law at the same time, as per the wide consensus established among the international community. Against this, Turkey argues that the special geographical properties of the Aegean Sea make a strict application of the 12-mile rule in this case illicit in the interest of equity.[2] Furthermore, Turkey argues that although according to the convention the islands are considered as land and have their territorial waters, the third paragraph of Article 121 states that "Rocks which cannot sustain human habitation or economic life of their own shall have no exclusive economic zone or continental shelf.". Turkey also claims that the attempts of Greece to extend their territorial waters to 12 miles violates Article 300 of the agreement as well, which mentions that "States Parties shall fulfil in good faith the obligations assumed under this Convention and shall exercise the rights, jurisdiction and freedoms recognized in this Convention in a manner which would not constitute an abuse of right.".[3]

Tensions over the 12-mile question ran highest between the two countries in the early 1990s, when the Law of the Sea was going to come into force. On 9 June 1995, the Turkish parliament officially declared that unilateral action by Greece would constitute a casus belli, i.e. reason to go to war, by Turkey. This declaration has been condemned by Greece as a violation of the Charter of the United Nations, which forbids "the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state".[1]"


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aegean_dispute

As the article states, we did not sign the 12-miles treaty and have no obligation to accept it and Greece is in no position to force us to accept it.