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Ankara will announce its environmental protection projects in its Aegean marine areas in the upcoming days, the Foreign Ministry said on Monday, following Greece’s response to its unilateral steps in the sea.
The ministry said it previously underlined that marine parks in the Aegean Sea would not have any legal consequences in the context of the interrelated Aegean issues between the two countries, “including certain geographical features whose sovereignty is not ceded to Greece by international treaties.” It added that this reality remains valid today.
“Unilateral actions should be avoided in closed or semi-enclosed seas such as the Aegean and the Mediterranean,” it emphasized. “International maritime law encourages cooperation, including environmental issues, between coastal states in closed or semi-enclosed seas. In this context, we reiterate that Türkiye remains ready to cooperate with Greece, as one of the two coastal states in the Aegean Sea.”
It highlighted that efforts to exploit universal values such as the protection of the environment in the context of interrelated Aegean issues and issues related to the status of some islands, islets and rocks whose sovereignty has not been ceded to Greece by international treaties, will not have any legal consequences today, as they did not in the past.
“Türkiye maintains its position that a sincere and comprehensive approach should be adopted to resolve issues based on international law, equity and good neighborliness within the framework of the Athens Declaration on Friendly Relations and Good Neighborliness, dated Dec. 7, 2023, which prioritizes dialogue and cooperation and reflects the spirit that both parties want to uphold in Turkish-Greek relations,” it added.
Türkiye’s statements came after Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis announced the creation of two new National Marine Parks – one in the Ionian Sea and the other in the southern Aegean earlier on the same day. Contrary to previous statements, Greece’s environment minister said that the combined area of the two newly announced parks will be expanded to 27,500 square kilometers (approximately 10,617 square miles).
“These parks will be among the largest marine protected areas in the entire Mediterranean. They will allow us to meet the target of protecting 30% of our territorial waters by 2030, way ahead of schedule,” Mitsotakis said in a video message.
Athens has assured that the park’s boundaries are within Greece’s territorial waters.
Ankara’s proactive stance on marine spatial planning is part of a broader strategy to assert its maritime rights and uphold international legal norms in the face of what it sees as encroaching initiatives by Greece. Turkish officials maintain that marine protection efforts must be transparent, equitable and cooperative, particularly in semi-enclosed seas like the Aegean, where maritime boundaries remain unsettled.
As Türkiye moves to institutionalize its marine planning within international frameworks, it seeks to preempt efforts that may attempt to redefine maritime jurisdiction through environmental discourse. The broader message from Ankara is clear: Marine conservation is vital, but not at the cost of geopolitical stability or sovereign rights.
While Türkiye and Greece have recently engaged in dialogue to ease bilateral tensions, the marine parks issue highlights how even shared global concerns, such as environmental protection, can become arenas of quiet competition in a historically fraught region.
After a long period of tensions marked by disputes over irregular migration, the Cyprus dispute, energy exploration and territorial sovereignty in the Aegean, Ankara and Athens have been taking confidence-building steps to foster a fragile normalization of their relations since late 2023.
