HL Deb 30 January 1995 vol 560 cc97-8WA
Lord Kennet

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether Turkey has stated it would consider going to war if Greece were to declare (as international law allows) a breadth of 12 nautical miles for its territorial sea in the Aegean, and if so, what steps are they taking to defuse this possible threat to NATO, either within NATO or within the OSCE.

Baroness Chalker of Wallasey

There was speculation in November 1994 that the Greek Government would take advantage of the entry into force of the Law of the Sea Convention to extend its territorial sea to 12 miles. This led some Turkish Ministers to declare that such an extension would be seen by them as acasus belli. Greece took no such steps and the situation has calmed.