Statement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs regarding Turkish revisionism in the period 1973-2022 – Depiction in 16 maps

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  1. In an effort to increase the wider public’s awareness of Turkish revisionism, the attached maps depict in a vivid and irrefutable way the Turkish illegal unilateral actions and claims.
    The maps begin chronologically with the status quo enshrined in the Lausanne (1923) and Paris (1947) Treaties.
    Turkish claims are then presented, beginning with the illegal licensing of the Turkish state oil company (TPAO) for exploration of oil fields in areas of the Greek continental shelf in the North Aegean in 1973, and continuing with the attempt to usurp Greece’s responsibility for Search and Rescue services in half of the Aegean in the 1980s, the “grey zone” theory in the 1990s, further escalation with the granting of new licenses in the Eastern Mediterranean, the endorsement of the “Blue Homeland” as an official doctrine, the “Turkish-Libyan Memorandum”, reaching as far as the Turkish theory of the demilitarization status of the Aegean islands.
    The above-mentioned maps document the extent of Turkish revisionism in order to upend the status quo, violating International Law and the International Law of the Sea, and threatening peace, security and stability in our region.

    [MAP 1 – 1923: Relinquishment by Turkey of all sovereignty over islands beyond the distance of three miles from the Anatolia coast](https://www.mfa.gr/images/docs/maps/en/map1.pdf)

    [MAP 2 – 1972: Territorial waters of Greece & Turkey](https://www.mfa.gr/images/docs/maps/en/map2.pdf)

    [MAP 3 – 1973: Publication of TPAO licenses in North Aegean](https://www.mfa.gr/images/docs/maps/en/map3.pdf)

    [MAP 4 – 1974: Publication of new TPAO licenses in the Aegean and between Rhodes and the Kastellorizo complex](https://www.mfa.gr/images/docs/maps/en/map4.pdf)

    [MAP 5 – Publication of Turkish Search and Rescue (SAR) Regulation, which defines an area of responsibility covering half of the Aegean Sea](https://www.mfa.gr/images/docs/maps/en/map5.pdf)

    [MAP 6 – 1996: Turkish theory on the existence of islands of indeterminate sovereignty (“grey zones”)](https://www.mfa.gr/images/docs/maps/en/map6.pdf)

    [MAP 7 – 2009, 2012: Publication of TPAO licenses south of Kastellorizo complex & south/southeast of Rhodes](https://www.mfa.gr/images/docs/maps/en/map7.pdf)

    [MAP 8 – 2019:The “Mavi Vatan” (Blue Homeland) as Turkey’s official doctrine](https://www.mfa.gr/images/docs/maps/en/map8.pdf)

    [MAP 9-2019: Announcement to the UN of the claimed Turkish continental shelf as far as the 28th parallel- Signing of the Turkish-Libyan Memorandum](https://www.mfa.gr/images/docs/maps/en/map9.pdf)

    [MAP 10 – 2020: submission to the UN of a map with the limits of the continental shelf claimed by Turkey](https://www.mfa.gr/images/docs/maps/en/map10.pdf)

    [MAP 11 – 2020: Publication of TPAO’s applications for hydrocarbon exploration license in the area of the Turkish-Libyan Memorandum](https://www.mfa.gr/images/docs/maps/en/map11.pdf)

    [MAP 12 – 2020: Extension of the area of responsibility for Search and Rescue claimed by Turkey](https://www.mfa.gr/images/docs/maps/en/map12.pdf)

    [MAP 13 – Equidistance line determined in the Turkish-Libyan Memorandum](https://www.mfa.gr/images/docs/maps/en/map13.pdf)

    [MAP 14 – 2021: The Turkish theory on the demilitarized Greek islands](https://www.mfa.gr/images/docs/maps/en/map14.pdf)

    [MAP 15 – Overall depiction of Turkish claims today (2022)](https://www.mfa.gr/images/docs/maps/en/map15.pdf)

    [MAP 16 – Comparative depiction of Turkish claims/designs 1972-2022](https://www.mfa.gr/images/docs/maps/en/map16.pdf)

  2. Cool maps,

    Can someone explain why they ommitted the part when Greece increased its territorial waters from 3nm to 6nm between 1947 and 1970s? Irrelevant?

    Also why is the median line in all maps although it legally means nothing?

  3. Here is the turkish version if anyone is interested.

    https://www.mfa.gov.tr/background-note-on-aegean-dispute.en.mfa

    “Under the present 6 mile limit,Greek territorial sea comprises approximately 43.5 percent of the Aegan sea. For Turkey the same percentage is 7.5 percent. The remaining 49 percent is high seas.

    It is evident that the extension by Greece of her territorial waters beyond the present 6 miles in the Aegean, would have most inequitable implications and would, therefore, constitute an abuse of right.

    If the breadth of Greek territorial waters is extended to 12 miles due to the existence of the islands, Greece would acquire approximatively 71.5 percent of the Aegean sea, while Turkey’s share would increase to only 8.8 percent. The Aegean high seas would diminish to 19.7 percent.”

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