Türkiye’s declaration of marine parks in the Aegean Sea earlier this month annoyed Greece, which disputes Turkish maritime borders.
Greek media outlets reported that Greek Foreign Minister George Gerapetritis would raise the issue at an informal meeting of EU foreign ministers on Sept. 2. He is expected to reiterate Greece’s claim that the marine parks violate international law. Gerapetritis previously announced that Greece had issued a diplomatic note to Türkiye about the matter.
Two presidential decrees published in the Official Gazette on Aug. 16 reaffirmed Türkiye’s maritime rights in the Aegean Sea.
One decree designated an area between the Fethiye district of Muğla and the Kaş district of Antalya in the southern Aegean as a “national marine park,” while another applied the same designation to an area in the North Aegean Sea, near the coasts of Tekirdağ and Çanakkale.
For Türkiye, it is merely a move to protect marine biodiversity, but marine parks have been a source of contention with neighboring Greece for some time. Greek media outlets reported earlier this month that the Greek government was also moving forward with plans to declare a new national marine park in the southern Aegean Sea. The decree on the matter is now before a top court in the country and, according to the To Vima website, will be finalized in October.
