Greek territorial waters extend to 6 nautical miles from the natural coastline.  In certain cases this may be less than 6 nautical miles under the median line rule or related contractual agreements.

There are two legal texts relative to the Greek coastal zone.  According to Law 230 of 1936 on the determination of the Greek coastal zone (Government Gazette A 450) the breadth of the coastal zone is set at six nautical miles from the coast, without prejudice to prevailing special case provisions, according to which the coastal zone is determined as being greater or less than six nautical miles.  This provision is repeated in Article 139 of Legal Decree 187/1973, Government Gazette 261, which states that territorial waters include the marine zone, the breadth of which is set at six nautical miles, but could however be differently set by Presidential Decrees issued following a proposal from the Council of Ministers.

At only a number of locations in Greece is the distance from foreign shores less than the total breadth of the respective territorial waters, thus changing the breadth of the Greek coastal zone.  Such is the case on the eastern shores of the Eastern Aegean and Dodecanese islands.  For the Eastern Aegean islands the customary rule of the median line applies, as stipulated by Article 15 of the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. Delimitation around the Dodecanese islands is contractually established in the 1932 Agreement (4th January) and the 1932 Protocol (28th December) between Italy and Turkey.  Greece was the successor state to the related provisions in these agreements on the basis of Article 14(1) of the 1947 Paris Peace Treaty (10th February), which cedes sovereignty of the Dodecanese islands to Greece.

According to international law, both customary and contractual, Greece has the right to extend her territorial waters to 12 nautical miles.  During ratification of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, our country stated that when and where she shall exercise these rights without this in any way implying that Greece renounces these rights shall depend on national strategy.  Article 2 of Law 2321/1995, ratifying the Convention of the Law of the Sea, also provides for Greece to have the inalienable right, by way of application of Article 3 of the ratified Convention, to extend her territorial waters to up to 12 nautical miles at any point in time.

This right to extend territorial waters to up to 12 nautical miles has already been excercised by many states including Turkey, which since 1964 has extended her territorial waters in the Black Sea and the Mediterranean to 12 nautical miles.

When the Convention of the Law of the Sea came into force Turkey declared that any eventual extension of Greek territorial waters would be considered as a casus belli.  Greece ratified the above Convention on 31st May 1995, and on 8th June 1995 the Turkish National Assembly issued a resolution granting the Turkish government full competence, military included, to maintain and protect Turkeys vital interests.  This resolution is still in force, and Turkey has not revoked this policy.

Turkeys unorthodox stance aside, which is not in accordance with the rules of international law, a threat of casus belli also violates Article 2, paragraph 4 of the United Nations Charter, which prohibits member-states threatening or using violence in international relations. Morever, the extension of territorial waters of any country to 12 nautical miles is an absolute and inalienable right in accordance with the Convention of the Law of the Sea, which codifies preceding customary law on the matter.

Greece also has a coastal zone of 10 nautical miles serving aviation and air policing requirements as established by Presidential Decree 6/18, of September 1931 on the determination of the extent of territorial waters for aviation and air policing requirements, (Government Gazette A/ 325).

Whereas for 44 consecutive years Turkey recognised and respected the above rule of 10 nautical miles, since 1975 she has contested it with constant violations of Greek Air Space.  Formations of Turkish fighter planes, often with missiles on board, not only violate this section of Greek air space now contested by Turkey between 10 and 6 nautical miles, but also penetrate deeply beyond 6 nautical miles, in other words into Greek air space which Turkey has recognized, often overflying Greek islands. 

Here it should be noted that, in conformity with international procedures, Greece has notified her legislation on national air space without delay in order to see international legal consequences and more specifically with respect to her neighbouring countries.

Indeed, on the basis of her obligations in accordance with Annex F on aeronautical maps of the 1919 Treaty of Paris on Air Traffic, Greece has submitted maps of her air space, designation of air corridors, as well as the transit points on her northern and eastern borders to the CINA (International Air Navigation Committee).  These maps show the outermost limits of Greek air space as 10 nautical miles. 

With the implementation of Annex 4 of the 1944 Chicago Treaty on Aeronautical Maps, the first ICAO aeronautical maps printed in 1949 were based on the CINA ones.  In their second edition in 1955, new aeronautical maps were incorporated, which Greece then published.  The outer limit of Greek national air space was clearly designated as 10 nautical miles.  It should be stressed that the respective Turkish aeronautical maps also included the outer limits of Greek air space as 10 nautical miles.

During the Regional Air Navigation Meetings in Paris (1952) and Geneva (1958) the Athens FIR limits were determined, based on the outer limits of its coastal zone and its air space.  In the Minutes of the 1958 Regional Meeting, moreover, clear reference is made to the Greek aeronautical maps communicated to ICAO in 1955 and which show the limits of Greek air space at 10 nautical miles.  Turkey participated in these Regional Meetings without raising any objections to the 10 nautical miles set for Greek national air space.  The map of the European Air Navigation Plan was also approved at these Meetings.

Further official notification of the 10 nautical mile limit, as stipulated in the Presidential Decree of 1931, was included in the Aeronautical Information Handbook that was published in accordance with Annex 15 of the Chicago Convention by the competent Civil Aviation Authorities. (AIP Greece, Vol I, RAC 0-1.2.1).

Finally, the 10 nautical miles regime has been in force since 1931, when the relevant Presidential Decree was issued and uniformly applied, without its legal basis being in any way contested by third countries.

Turkeys recent challenge to the extent of Greek air space is obviously part of a more generalized Turkish political objective to review the status quo in the Aegean.