Turkey Warns Greece

The Turkish Minister of National Affairs has warned Greece about the potential "serious problems" that may arise if it proceeds to arm the islands in the Aegean Sea and expand its territorial waters.

Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu issued direct threats towards Greece on Thursday and cautioned Athens against expanding its territorial waters in the Aegean Sea. According to Çavuşoğlu, recent reports in the Greek press indicate that Greece plans to extend its territorial waters around Crete to 12 nautical miles; however, Turkey has stated that it will not allow any extension of Greek waters in the Aegean Sea, even by one mile.

The head of Turkey's Foreign Ministry referred to a criminal case initiated by Ankara and emphasized that the Turkish Parliament's decision from 1995 on this matter is clear and remains in effect. Turkey had previously declared that it would consider Greece's expansion of waters as casus belli, or a reason to go to war.

“Everyone should know that a wrong step in this matter will lead to serious problems… Athens is resorting to provocative actions,” Akar told NTV.

Turkey believes that if Greece expands its territorial waters from the current six miles to twelve, it will effectively block Turkish waters and halt Turkey's ability to access international waters, thus isolating Turkey within its own territorial waters.