Turkey continues to blast the maritime spatial planning (MSP) published by Greece Wednesday, with its Ministry of Defense calling it a “unilateral act.”
Greece was careful to point out Wednesday that publishing the document, whose purpose is is to manage human activities in maritime areas, did not produce any policy, but the fulfillment of an obligation to the European Union to produce such a document, codifying current policies. Indeed, Greece had overshot the EU deadline by over four years and, as the European Court sharply reminded it in February, it was risking a hefty fine for doing so. Foreign Minister George Gerapetritis had repeatedly told his Turkish counterpart, Hakan Fidan, that submitting the MSP was not a move to force a resolution on bilateral contentious issues, on which the two countries are yet to agree whether, or how, to submit them to arbitration.
The accusation of unilateralism is made by a country that has published, and repeatedly trumpeted, its “Blue Homeland” blueprint for Turkey’s territorial demands, which directly encroach on the sovereign rights of neighboring states, Greece above all.
In the end, Greek officials are saying, the timing of the submission proved a blessing, or even a well-planned move, as some claim, to counteract Ankara’s loud PR narrative about its supposed rights over the Aegean Sea and the Eastern Mediterranean.
Athens is not unduly upset over Ankara’s reaction, which was expected. To Turkey, the MSP is not the fulfillment of an obligation but an assertion that weighs negatively on bilateral relations.
Given this position, the timeline of new bilateral meetings takes on fresh significance. For now, Gerapetritis and Fidan are due to meet in Brussels on May 14-15; whether this will lead eventually to a summit between President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis remains to be seen.