George Gerapetritis, the Greek Foreign Minister, said on Friday that Greece intends to expand its territorial waters, possibly into the Aegean sea, despite Turkey’s constant threat of war if Athens were to?take this step.

NATO allies but historic rivals?have lowered tensions over the past few years, but they remain at odds about where their continental shelf begins and ends in the Aegean, an area that is believed to have significant energy potential, and has implications for airspace and overflights.

Greece has extended its territorial waters to 12 nautical mile from 6 following agreements with Italy. It has also signed a maritime boundary agreement with Egypt for the eastern Mediterranean.

Ankara was outraged by similar actions in the Aegean.

In 1995, Turkey's parliament declared "casus Belli" - or cause for war - if Greece unilaterally expanded its waters in the Aegean beyond six nautical miles, a position Athens claims violates international maritime laws.

Gerapetritis, in response to questions asked by the parliament on Friday said that further expansion is expected.

Gerapetritis stated that "today our sovereignty in Aegean sea extends to 6 nautical miles." "As with Egypt and Italy, there will be an extension of the territorial water."

He did not specify the maritime areas that could be expanded.

The Turkish Foreign Ministry was not available to comment immediately.

Greece announced in July the boundaries of two marine parks planned for the Ionian Sea and Aegean Sea. According to Athens' maps, the Aegean Park, which covers 9,500 square kilometres (3.668 square miles), will initially extend around the southern Cyclades Islands, further south than Turkey. Ankara has raised objections to the announcement.

Greece has said that the only thing it will discuss with Turkey, is the delimitation of their maritime areas. This includes the continental shelf as well as the exclusive economic zone. (Reporting from Antonis Pothitos. Additional reporting by Huseyin Haatsever. Angeliki Koutantou, Mark Potter and Angeliki Koutantou edited the article.

(source: Reuters)