Turkey is eying the designation of its own marine parks in the Aegean, the country’s official news agency reported on Tuesday, a development directly linked to Greece’s stated intention of creating such a zone in the south Aegean Sea in the coming period.
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis himself said his government will commence the legal process this month to create two such marine parks, the aforementioned one in the Aegean and another in the Ionian Sea. In fact, he made the announcement on Monday while addressing the 3rd United Nations Ocean Conference in Nice, France.
Among others, a marine park status would prohibit certain types of commercial fishing activities in the designated areas and possibly lead to stepped up measures against over-fishing.
According to the Anadolu news agency dispatch, Ankara is awaiting to see the exact coordinates of the south Aegean Sea marine park, namely, whether any point exceeds six nautical miles from Greek territory. Turkey has long disputed Greece’s right to extend its territorial waters from six to up to 12 nautical miles, as per the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). Turkey has refused to sign or acknowledge UNCLOS and only applies it, in a de facto manner, where it suits it, i.e. the Black Sea. Ankara has also declined to refer the issue of a delimitation of the Aegean’s continental shelf to an international tribunal, disputes the full extent of the Athens FIR’s juridiction over the entire Aegean and has even criticized Greece’s right to field military defenses on its islands – in the face of Turkish claims disputing the latter’s sovereignty.
The pro-government Daily Sabah media outlet, quoting Turkish diplomatic sources, reported that Ankara “is carefully evaluating whether the marine parks Greece is expected to declare in the Ionian and Aegean Seas will overlap with contentious maritime zones. While Ankara supports environmental protection and sustainable marine management, it maintains that unilateral actions under the guise of ecological preservation must not be allowed to mask political motives or alter the delicate status quo in the Aegean.”
Anadolu referred to “Preventive measures are being reviewed against possible unilateral steps.”
In an official mode last year, Turkey’s foreign ministry claimed that Greece was trying to “exploit” every international framework and initiative to press its positions in the Aegean, including the use of environmental protection.
Greece has affirmed its commitment to meeting the so-called 30×30 global initiative, which aims to protect 30% of the world’s land and ocean areas by 2030.
