Turkey: Marine Parks and Its Revisionist Agenda in the Aegean and Eastern Mediterranean
In a carefully considered move, which is regarded as a response to the designation of the Greek marine parks—and particularly the one in the Southern Cyclades—as well as to the delineation of the Maritime Spatial Planning framework, Turkey is focusing on two areas of particular interest.
In yet another attempt to impose its revisionist agenda in the Aegean and Eastern Mediterranean, Turkey is now doing so through the establishment by law of two marine parks between Lemnos and Samothrace, and between Rhodes and Kastellorizo.
Essentially instrumentalizing an issue relating to environmental protection, Ankara is advancing its unlawful positions concerning maritime zones. According to these positions, on the one hand, the Greek islands do not possess sovereign rights beyond 6 nautical miles, while on the other hand, the continental shelf is to be delineated on the basis of the mainland coasts of the two countries, thereby dividing the Aegean in half.
In a carefully considered move, which is regarded as a response to the designation of the Greek marine parks—and particularly the one in the Southern Cyclades—as well as to the delineation of Maritime Spatial Planning, Turkey is focusing on two areas of particular interest:
– In the northeastern Aegean, where claims concerning the potential Greek continental shelf were first advanced in 1973—at the time prompted by the discovery of deposits offshore from Thasos—through the issuing of exploration permits to the Turkish state-owned oil company (TPAO).
– In the Eastern Mediterranean, where since 2019 it has sought to impose the doctrine of the “Blue Homeland,” using the illegal Turkish-Libyan memorandum as its vehicle.
Arc of Turkish claims
Through this approach, Ankara is creating an arc of claims encompassing the entire eastern island region, within which the Greek islands are confined exclusively to the territorial sea, while also covering the long period from 1973 to the present day.
These Turkish marine parks had also been depicted in the informal Maritime Spatial Planning map submitted to UNESCO, where Ankara’s longstanding revisionist positions in the Aegean and Eastern Mediterranean were once again reflected.
It should be recalled that the corresponding Greek map was based on the median-line principle, according to which, since bilateral delimitation agreements with neighboring states remain pending, the boundaries of Greece’s continental shelf and Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) extend to the midpoint between the coasts of the Greek islands and the coasts of Turkey, Egypt, Libya and Cyprus.
The same map also recorded the EEZ delimitation agreements with Egypt and Italy, with Turkey considering the former—which challenges the Turkish-Libyan memorandum—invalid from the outset.
Regarding the marine park in the Southern Cyclades, Ankara was quick to express its objections because, in violation of every principle of international law as well as international treaties, it includes the Kinaros-Levitha island complex among the so-called “gray zones.”
Turkish maximalism
Sources in Athens speak of “Turkish maximalism,” particularly in the case of the park between Rhodes and Kastellorizo, which encompasses an enormous area in which, among other things, it is obviously impossible in practice to impose environmental protection regulations.
This fact also indicates Ankara’s real intentions, namely the repetition, on every possible occasion, of its longstanding claims in the Aegean and Eastern Mediterranean. As for Kastellorizo, Turkey’s strategy is to exclude the remote island from the Greek mainland.
It is also considered unprecedented that Ankara is legislating for parks outside the jurisdiction of Turkish territorial waters, with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs responding that “to the extent that these parks cover international waters, their establishment is illegal, as no State has the right, under the Law of the Sea, to unilaterally establish marine protected areas in areas beyond national jurisdiction.”
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs further adds that these marine parks are also illegal insofar as they extend into the Greek continental shelf. Therefore, this is an action that “produces absolutely no legal effect whatsoever, both with regard to international waters and with regard to our rights over the Greek continental shelf.”
In Athens, officials understand that Turkey’s actions do not create legal faits accomplis, nor do they affect Greece’s sovereign rights arising from international law. At the same time, however, it is understood that over the past several months, incidents involving an escalation of tensions between the two sides of the Aegean have been increasing.
There are also many who link the date on which the marine parks were announced—just one day after the Feast of the Dormition of the Virgin Mary, August 15—with the entry of the French company Meridiam into the Greece-Cyprus electricity interconnection project. This comes as the Greek capital is essentially in the midst of a prolonged wait for the submission of the bill through which the Blue Homeland doctrine will be incorporated into the country’s legal order.
The revisionist Turkish “winds” are disturbing the “calm waters”
As is to be expected, the incorporation of Turkey’s revisionist agenda into its domestic legislation may not create faits accomplis internationally, but it could nevertheless drive Greece and Turkey away from the “calm waters.” In this context, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs stressed yesterday that the designation of the Turkish marine parks does not contribute “to consolidating a climate of good neighborly relations, while efforts to maintain relations of mutual understanding between the two countries are being undermined.”
The laying of the Greece-Cyprus cable
The timetable for the resumption of surveys for the laying of the Greece-Cyprus cable is also being awaited with great interest, with Athens expected to issue the relevant NAVTEX notices in the autumn. This is a move that is almost certain to provoke a reaction from Ankara.
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