Retired Turkish General and now analyst, Erdoğan Karakuş, spoke about the possible reaction of Russia to the expansion of Greek territorial waters to 12 nautical miles, as it is permitted to do by international law, from the six nautical miles it currently has.
"Greece will expand to 12 miles," he said, adding: "But as soon as Greece declares the 12 miles, Russia will slaughter them first."
"For what reason? Does Russia want to get permission from Greece every time its ships pass? Russia will be in complete opposition to Greece."
Of course this is far removed from reality and it is recalled that Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said ahead of his October 2020 visit to Greece that "every state has the sovereign right to extend its territorial waters up to 12 nautical miles."
Lavrov reiterated his October statement that Greece has a right to extend its territorial waters to 12 nautical miles in January of this year.
“Following from the 1982 Convention on the Law of the Sea that each state has the right to determine the extent of its territorial waters up to 12 miles," he said.
“When Greece announced that it was expanding the coastal zone, we said exactly this: it is a completely legal decision,” the Russian foreign minister continued.
“When the territorial waters defined by a state are contrary to the interests of a neighboring state and these interests are legitimate under the Convention on the Law of the Sea, solutions must be sought through dialogue and balance of interests,” he added.
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