Greece has rejected Turkey’s establishment of two “national marine parks” in the northeastern Aegean and eastern Mediterranean, arguing that the move violates international law and cannot create legal precedents.
The Greek Foreign Ministry issued the warning after Turkey published Presidential Decrees establishing the two marine parks on August 15. The designated areas extend beyond Turkey’s territorial waters.
The Foreign Ministry said the parks are unlawful to the extent that they cover international waters. Under the Law of the Sea, it stressed, no state can unilaterally establish marine protected areas outside its national jurisdiction.
Athens also considers the Turkish initiative unlawful where the designated areas extend into the Greek continental shelf. The Foreign Ministry said Turkey’s action “produces absolutely no legal effect,” either regarding international waters or Greece’s sovereign rights over its continental shelf.
The ministry further stressed that Turkey’s unilateral designation of “national” marine parks outside its jurisdiction cannot create facts on the ground or affect rights arising under international law.
Athens contrasted Turkey’s move with Greece’s own initiative to establish National Marine Parks in the Ionian Sea and the Aegean. According to the Foreign Ministry, Greece established those protected areas in full compliance with the Law of the Sea and exclusively within Greek territorial waters.
Greece also warned that actions aimed at creating precedents or unilaterally altering the status of maritime zones in the Aegean and eastern Mediterranean violate international law and further strain Greek-Turkish relations.
Such moves, the Foreign Ministry said, “do not contribute to consolidating a climate of good neighbourly relations” and seriously undermine efforts to maintain relations based on mutual understanding between the two countries.
The ministry concluded that Greece will continue to act “consistently and decisively” to protect its sovereign rights, safeguard the freedoms of the high seas as provided under the Law of the Sea, and protect the marine environment in accordance with international law.
