Gerapetritis: “EEZ and Continental Shelf to The Hague. That’s It”
Greek Foreign Minister Giorgos Gerapetritis has drawn a hard line on what Greece will and will not bring to international arbitration with Turkey. Speaking on Status FM, he said Greece is ready to take the maritime boundary dispute, specifically the Exclusive Economic Zone and continental shelf delimitation, to the International Court of Justice in The Hague. Beyond that, he will not go.
Turkey has been pushing to bundle additional issues into any potential court referral, including the demilitarization of Greek islands and what Ankara calls "grey zones" in the Aegean. Gerapetritis rejected that outright, calling those matters questions of Greek sovereignty that will never come before any international court. Greece's military posture on its own islands, he said, is a sovereign right that will not be negotiated away.
"Every tension between Greece and Turkey ultimately traces back to the fact that no boundary has ever been formally drawn" — Gerapetritis
The minister also addressed why resolving the maritime delimitation matters so urgently. He said every tension between Greece and Turkey, from research vessel incidents to Turkey's "Blue Homeland" doctrine, ultimately traces back to the fact that no boundary has ever been formally drawn. But he was equally clear that Greece cannot unilaterally force a delimitation. Both sides must agree to take it to court.
A significant procedural obstacle also came up. Turkey is not a signatory to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, which means the two countries would first need to agree on exactly what question they are submitting to the court before any referral can happen.
Gerapetritis also dismissed Turkey's argument that the Treaty of Lausanne requires Greek islands to be listed by name to confirm sovereignty. He called that claim completely outside legal reality, saying the treaty grants Turkey sovereignty only within three nautical miles of its coast. Everything beyond that belongs to Greece by irrefutable legal presumption, with no list required.
