1-Which part of the international law?
Greece possesses ipso facto and ab initio sovereign rights and jurisdiction in the Aegean and the Eastern Mediterranean in accordance with the relevant provisions of the
United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, which reflects customary international law, and its national legislation.
This position has been registered on numerous occasions with the United Nations (indicatively: note verbale dated 24.2.2005, see Law of the Sea Bulletin, vol. 57, p. 129; note verbale dated No. 974/8.5.2012, see Law of the Sea Bulletin, vol. 79, p. 14; note verbale No. 389/20.2.2013, see Law of the Sea Bulletin, vol. 81, p. 23; and letters from the Permanent Representative of Greece dated 23 May 2016 (A/70/900-S/2016/474); 25 April 2019 (A/73/850-S/2019/344); 19 March 2020 (A/74/758); and 20 April 2020 (A/74/819)), and has also been communicated bilaterally to Turkey (notes verbales No. 187/AS 2207/24.7.2009, No. 187/AS 2648/15.11.2011, No. 187/1066/30.4.2012, No. 156.3/1675/12.7.2012, and No. 2019/503.14/267/15.1.2019).
2-Turkey refused to come before the International Court, invoking its non-recognition of the Court’s jurisdiction. The Court did not examine the substance of the issue for reasons of formality, due to lack of competence.
Greece has declared its acceptance of the general mandatory jurisdiction of the International Court in The Hague, with the exceptions, which are specifically foreseen in the respective declaration , while, Greece has signed and ratified the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (1982).
3-Turkey is the only country that refers to and demands
the demilitarization of the “islands in the Eastern Aegean”. Greece reiterates its position that it is fully justified in taking all elementary precautionary measures to ensure that it will be able to exercise
its inalienable right to self-defence on the basis of Article 51 of the Charter of the United Nations, in particular given the above-mentioned conduct of Turkey since 1974. The moto is:
What is threatened is not demilitarized
4-Who's acting aggressively?
- Turkey invaded Cyprus in 1974, in violation of the Cyprus Treaty of Guarantee, to which Greece is a signatory state, and despite the numerous United Nations Security Council and General Assembly Resolutions to the contrary, still continues to maintain substantial military forces in the occupied territories.
- Turkey systematically violates Greek Air Space, and its military aircraft, often armed, fly over inhabited Greek islands in the Aegean Sea, which raises serious security concerns.
- Turkey over the past three decades, has maintained a significant number of military units, aircraft and landing craft at points on the coast of Asia Minor just across from the Greek islands, which is a serious threat against Greece.
- Turkey has invaded and illegally occupies, apart from a part of Cyprus, also parts of Iraq and Syria, claiming that it has done so out of concerns for its security.
- Turkey refuses to withdraw its military forces and mercenaries from Libya, defying relevant persistent calls by the entire international community, in the context of the latter’s endeavours for a peaceful solution to the Libyan crisis