Turkey’s foreign ministry reacted angrily on Saturday after the publication of the EU Maritime Spatial Plan (MSP) depicting Greek maritime waters.
The MSP details the uses of member-states’ maritime areas, as well as the permitted or prohibited activities in these areas, all within the context of the EU’s general delineation of European seas.
Athens had the obligation to have completed its MSP by 2021 to delineate Greek maritime waters.
According to the European Maritime Spatial Plan Platform website:
“Greece has not yet adopted an MSP. Alongside the ongoing MSP process, MSP related issues are also addressed in ‘Special Frameworks for Spatial Planning’ (terrestrial spatial plans – TS Plans) covering specific economic sectors.
Sectoral plans have been elaborated so far for aquaculture, (2011, to be revised), tourism (under finalization) and industry, (2009, to be revised), which include spatial planning guidelines for the land-based, coastal and marine segments of each sector.”
In a statement, the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs states that the European Union maps for the Aegean and the Mediterranean are not legally valid for Turkey because it disputes Greek maritime waters. The statement also said that the EU is not competent to speak on the subject of the Aegean.
Turkey against EU Maritime Spatial Plan
Regarding Maritime Spatial Planning of the European Union https://t.co/v8YPLUX1Q6 pic.twitter.com/XnapvulhMW
— Turkish MFA (@MFATurkiye) November 16, 2024
Even though Turkey is a candidate to join the European Union, it has often been in absolute discord with EU decisions and actions. In this case, the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement that goes against the MSP:
“Türkiye is closely monitoring the European Union’s (EU) Maritime Spatial Planning, conveying the necessary warnings to the relevant parties, and taking all the measures to protect its rights in the Aegean and the Mediterranean.
The Aegean and the Mediterranean maps used in this Planning are null and void for Türkiye and have no legal effect whatsoever.
We reiterate that we will not allow the violation of Türkiye’s rights with this Planning.
We would like to remind that the EU has no authority to comment on maritime disputes between sovereign states. The EU’s involvement in such initiatives makes it more difficult to resolve these disputes.
Unilateral actions regarding maritime jurisdiction areas are unacceptable. Such unilateral attempts will undermine the efforts to find a comprehensive, just and durable solution to the interrelated Aegean issues.
A sincere and comprehensive approach should be adopted to solve the problems on the basis of international law and good neighborliness.”
Turkey continues to dispute the sovereignty of Greek islands in the Aegean that are close to Turkey. It also disputes the right of Greece to extend Greek maritime waters to 12 miles.
