Greece calls on Turkey to join UNCLOS

Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias said Greece and Turkey would be able to solve their differences if Ankara joins the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

Dendias said he would be truly happy to see the Greek-Turkish differences resolved, in an interview with Kathimerini newspaper’s GG Greece Magazine on Sunday.

“This solution would be absolutely possible if Turkey accepted UNCLOS,” he said.

Turkey and Greece have long been at odds over a string of issues, including territorial claims. The two countries, both NATO allies, had come to the brink of war in the summer of 2020, when Ankara deployed Oruc Reis vessel to conduct seismic research off the coast of Cyprus and Greek islands, escorted by warships. 

Turkey which is not a signatory of the UNCLOS, objects to the rules of the convention regarding the delimitation of maritime zones and does not recognize a legal continental shelf and EEZ around the Greek islands and Cyprus. 

Turkey says the Aegean islands should not generate continental shelf rights for Greece as they overlap with the maritime area Turkey claims rights over, while Greece maintains Turkey has no authority to issue navigation notices (Navtex) in the area as it goes beyond its continental shelf.