Turkey has criticized Greece’s decision to declare two new marine parks, one in the Aegean Sea and the other in the Ionian Sea, accusing Athens of using environmental protection as a cover for expanding its jurisdiction in disputed maritime areas.
The Greek government formally announced the establishment of the parks today after PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis unveiled the initiative during the United Nations Ocean Conference (UNOC3) last month.
The new regulation will ban deep-sea trawling and introduce various measures to combat overfishing in the designated zones.
Coastal preservation movements rise in Greece, Turkey against commercialization
Ankara, however, contends the move is directly tied to the longstanding maritime boundary disputes in the Aegean Sea between Turkey and Greece.
The Foreign Ministry noted that it had reacted immediately when Greece announced the plan in April, asserting that the marine parks "would not have any legal consequences in the context of the interrelated Aegean issues between the two countries."
Turkey to open its own parks
The ministry emphasized that unilateral actions should be avoided in semi-enclosed seas such as the Aegean and the Mediterranean, citing international maritime law, which it said encourages coastal states to collaborate on environmental issues in such regions.
"Türkiye remains ready to cooperate with Greece, as one of the two coastal states in the Aegean Sea," it added.
The ministry accused Greece of "exploiting universal values such as the protection of environment" while announcing Turkey's own plan to unveil its marine protection initiatives in the coming days. (TY/VK)
