Turkey has reacted to Greece’s updated marine spatial planning (MSP) map on the EU MSP Platform website, calling it a “unilateral” move in violation of international law. In a statement on Friday, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Oncu Keceli said the Greek map “violates Turkey’s maritime jurisdiction areas in the Aegean Sea and the Eastern Mediterranean.”
The Greek map “violates Turkey’s maritime jurisdiction areas in the Aegean Sea and the Eastern Mediterranean.” It appears that Greece, which continues to disregard fundamental principles of international maritime law, is attempting to use the MSP map to gain EU recognition of an exclusive economic zone in the Eastern Mediterranean that it has not officially declared. Our country rejects this unlawful fait accompli.”
“Greece’s attempts to legitimize these EEZ claims and to depict on the MSP map the outer limits of a continental shelf it has not delimited with its neighbors are unilateral actions that are doomed to fail and contrary to international law.”
MSP is used to manage human activities in maritime areas, including tourism, offshore energy drilling, fishing, and environmental protection. There has been no official response from the Greek side.
Context: The MSP framework helps allocate and regulate activities across maritime spaces, a topic increasingly scrutinized amid competing territorial claims in the Aegean and Eastern Mediterranean. Greece has recently completed its own MSP, aligning with EU directives and UNCLOS, while Turkey has challenged such delineations based on its own Blue Homeland doctrine.
Author’s summary: The dispute centers on competing maritime claims in the Aegean and Eastern Mediterranean, with Turkey labeling Greece’s MSP map unlawful and attempting to influence EU recognition of EEZs, while Greece defends its extensive maritime rights under international law.