Türkiye adds new marine parks to planning map
ANKARA
Türkiye has added new marine protected areas to its national planning map registered with UNESCO's Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC), Foreign Ministry sources said on Aug. 2.
The updated map was coordinated by Ankara University’s National Maritime Law Research Center and supported by various institutions. Two new areas stand out among the additions: one in the northern Aegean and another off the coast of Fethiye and Kaş, with further designations expected in the surrounding seas.
The new MPAs aim to protect marine ecosystems and promote environmental sustainability without affecting freedom of navigation, the sources said.
Ongoing coordination on the status and legal framework of MPAs is being carried out by the Agriculture and Forestry Ministry and the Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change Ministry.
"Marine parks are essentially beneficial tools established to protect certain areas of the sea and support sustainability," the sources said. "Türkiye aims to increase the number of these areas with its experience in protecting the marine environment."
They referred to recent developments by neighboring Greece, which announced two marine parks in the Ionian and Aegean Seas on July 21.
"Greece's fait accompli efforts in the Aegean, including practices on Geographical Formations [gray areas] consisting of islands, islets and rocks not ceded to Greece by international agreements, produce no legal consequences. These attempts can have no effect on Türkiye's legitimate rights and interests," the officials said.
"The Foreign Ministry has repeatedly announced and recorded Türkiye's position on this issue. These matters are also emphasized in meetings with Greek counterparts."
Türkiye continues to take reciprocal steps, the sources said, noting that the country had recently announced its marine spatial planning covering all its seas and registered it with the relevant U.N. body.
The number of MPAs is expected to increase across all Turkish seas in a manner that does not hinder economic sector activities, they said, citing international maritime law’s encouragement of cooperation among coastal states in semi-enclosed seas such as the Aegean.
Türkiye's approach, the officials said, is based on international law, equity and good neighborly relations in line with the “Athens Declaration" signed by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on Dec. 7, 2023.
A presidential circular published in the Official Gazette on July 24 established the Marine Spatial Planning Coordination Board.
The body will convene regularly to assess the environmental impacts of sectoral activities in Türkiye's surrounding seas and ensure inter-agency cooperation. The Foreign Ministry will provide secretariat services for the board.
Türkiye maintains 6 nautical miles of territorial waters in the Aegean and 12 nautical miles in the Eastern Mediterranean and Black Sea, with the country being a party to regional marine protection treaties.
Disputes continue over maritime boundaries as the Aegean continental shelf remains unresolved in the absence of a delimitation agreement with Greece. Türkiye has signed maritime boundary agreements with Libya and Turkish Cyprus in the eastern Mediterranean.
