Cover photo: Ria.photocatcher (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0)
12 Nautical Miles: The Line That Could Start a War
Why extending Greece's territorial waters by a few miles is treated by Turkey as grounds for war.
About
Six nautical miles. A distance so short a speedboat covers it in a few minutes. And yet, if that number grows just a little larger, Turkey has officially declared — and still maintains today — that this would mean war.
On the eighth of June, nineteen ninety-five, the Turkish parliament unanimously passed a casus belli against Greece, should it ever extend its Aegean territorial waters past six miles — a right that international maritime law itself grants every coastal state. From the seventeenth-century "cannon-shot rule" to today's clash over the "Blue Homeland" doctrine, from the nineteen ninety-six Imia crisis to developments as recent as two thousand twenty-six, this book explains, with a balanced view of both sides, why a number of nautical miles has held an official declaration of war between two NATO allies in place for three decades.
First book in a series on the open issues between Greece and Turkey.
Sources
- Hellenic Republic, Ministry of Foreign Affairs — "Territorial sea - Casus belli" — https://www.mfa.gr/en/foreign-policy/foreign-policy-issues/issues-of-greek-turkish-relations/territorial-sea-casus-belli/
- Republic of Türkiye, Ministry of Foreign Affairs — "The Breadth of Territorial Waters" — https://www.mfa.gov.tr/the-breadth-of-territorial-waters.en.mfa
- European Parliament — Parliamentary question E-005757/2018 on the Turkish casus belli — https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/E-8-2018-005757_EN.html
- Indian Council of World Affairs — "The Greco-Turkish dispute over the Aegean Sea" — https://www.icwa.in/show_content.php?lang=1&level=1&ls_id=8622&lid=5627
- Al Jazeera — "Greek MPs approve extension of territorial waters in Ionian Sea" — https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/1/20/greek-mps-approve-extension-of-territorial-waters-in-ionian-sea
- Wikipedia — "Imia/Kardak" — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imia/Kardak
- GreekReporter — "Greece Asserts Intent to Expand Territorial Waters Despite Turkish Threats" — https://greekreporter.com/2026/01/16/greece-intend-expand-territorial-waters-despite-turkish-threats/
- Turkish Minute — "Turkey details draft maritime law to codify claims in Aegean, eastern Mediterranean" — https://turkishminute.com/2026/05/13/turkey-details-draft-maritime-law-to-codify-claims-in-aegean-eastern-mediterranean/
Similar audiobooks
Economics & Business18 minCrisis: The Most Expensive Decade in Greek HistoryCrisis: The Most Expensive Decade in Greek History
How Greece built its own debt crisis, leading to the largest sovereign debt haircut in history.
History17 minThe Invasion of CyprusThe Invasion of Cyprus
The coup that was staged in the name of union — and brought partition instead.
Politics12 minThe Ceuta Crisis: When 60,000 People Crossed the BorderThe Ceuta Crisis: When 60,000 People Crossed the Border
How 60,000 people crossed into Ceuta and triggered the largest migration crisis in Europe's history.
History18 minSmyrna 1922: The End of a Cosmopolitan CitySmyrna 1922: The End of a Cosmopolitan City
How the Aegean's most cosmopolitan city was lost in a few days — and what crossed the sea.
History15 minEAM-ELAS: From the Epic of Resistance to the Shadow of Civil WarEAM-ELAS: From the Epic of Resistance to the Shadow of Civil War
The gripping story of Greece's largest WWII resistance movement and the dark price of power.
Economics & Business17 minThe Price of OrderThe Price of Order
The real history of tax — from a payment for protection to the foundation of the welfare state.
Politics16 minIran: The History Behind the WarIran: The History Behind the War
How a seventy-year friendship collapsed into today's Iran, US, and Israel conflict.
Politics19 min1945 Was Not the End: Neo-Nazis, Europe and Moscow1945 Was Not the End: Neo-Nazis, Europe and Moscow
From Rostock to Moscow: how a defeated ideology keeps coming back, and who profits from it.
