Diplomatic sources: US essentially denounces Turkey’s ‘casus belli’

The renewed defense cooperation deal between the US and Greece signed in Washington essentially denounces Turkey’s threat to start a war with Greece over the extent of its continental shelve and its maritime boundaries, further shielding Greece’s territorial sovereignty, Greek diplomatic sources said on Friday.

Turkey has said that if Athens extends its territorial waters to 12 miles in the Aegean it would be a casus belli, or cause for war.

Interpreting the content of the new Mutual Defense Cooperation Agreement (MDCA) signed by the two countries earlier in the day, the sources said that the decision to reciprocally protect sovereignty and territorial integrity against acts threatening peace, including an armed aggression, and the commitment of both sides to prevent and oppose such actions, the US rejects Turkey’s expansionist policy in a contractual text (the casus belli is from 1995, therefore after the signing of the MDCA).