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Akbar Novruz

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Greece has rejected Türkiye’s decision to establish two national marine parks in the Aegean and eastern Mediterranean, arguing that the move is illegal where the designated areas extend beyond Turkish territorial waters, AzerNEWS reports.

Under two decrees published in Türkiye’s official government gazette on August 16, Ankara designated one marine park between the Fethiye district of Muğla and Kaş district of Antalya, while the second covers an area in the northern Aegean near the coasts of Tekirdağ and Çanakkale.

Greece’s Foreign Ministry said on Sunday that the designations could not have legal effect in areas beyond national jurisdiction.

“To the extent that the parks cover high seas areas, their establishment is illegal, as no state is entitled, according to the Law of the Sea, to unilaterally establish marine protected areas in areas beyond national jurisdiction,” the ministry said.

Athens also claimed that the designated marine parks extend into areas of the Greek continental shelf.

“This is, therefore, an action that creates no legal effect whatsoever, either in respect of the high seas or in respect of Greece’s rights over its continental shelf,” the ministry said.

Greece further argued that Türkiye’s unilateral move could not establish new facts on the ground or alter existing rights under international law.

“The unilateral establishment by Türkiye of ‘national’ marine parks also in areas beyond its jurisdiction cannot create faits accomplis or affect in any way rights deriving from International Law,” the ministry added.

Athens contrasted Türkiye’s decision with Greece’s own establishment of national marine parks in the Ionian and Aegean seas.

According to the Greek Foreign Ministry, those parks were established exclusively within Greek territorial waters and therefore complied fully with the Law of the Sea.

The dispute comes against the backdrop of longstanding, historic disagreements between Greece and Türkiye over maritime boundaries, continental shelf rights and jurisdiction in the Aegean and eastern Mediterranean.