A reported plan by Turkey to incorporate its maritime claims in the Aegean Sea in draft legislation would create tension with Greece and have no legal effect, Foreign Minister George Gerapetritis said Monday.
Responding to an opposition question in Parliament, Gerapetritis said that “a unilateral act can by no means amount to a binding text in the framework of international law.”
“International law provides that, for the delimitation of an Exclusive Economic Zone, there must be an agreement between the countries with adjacent or facing littorals,” he added. “Therefore, no internal legislator can ever act bindingly as to such matters.”
Turkish media have reported that the governing AKP party’s bill would “legally secure Turkey’s rights and interests in the Black Sea, the Mediterranean and the Aegean.” The reports said that the draft law was expected to be tabled after a religious holiday that ends on May 31.
Gerapetritis said that such a unilateral act by Ankara “beyond the fact that it carries no legal effect whatsoever and is not binding, clearly is unnecessary and creates tension.”
