Turkey has expressed strong objections to the supplementary maritime spatial planning map recently submitted by Greece to the relevant European Union authority. The Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson reiterated Ankara’s longstanding claims related to the “Blue Homeland” doctrine, accusing Greece of attempting to use the maritime spatial planning framework to impose “fait accompli” measures.

The map, published on the EU’s official maritime spatial planning platform, depicts not only the potential Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) under Greek Law 4001/2011 (as in the original map released in April) but also two areas where Greece has declared EEZs through agreements with Egypt and Italy.

Notably, a footnote on the map states that it was submitted by Greek authorities, while it also mentions that the full maritime spatial planning framework has yet to be formally submitted to the EU, despite the deadline having long passed.

On social media, the Turkish MFA spokesperson, Öncü Keçeli, accused Greece of disregarding the fundamental principles of international maritime law by attempting to establish an EEZ in the Eastern Mediterranean that has not been officially declared, leveraging the maritime spatial planning map as a political tool. Turkey rejects what it calls an unlawful attempt to create facts on the ground and refers to its own unilateral submission of what it claims are the outer limits of its continental shelf in the Eastern Mediterranean, communicated via a letter to the UN on March 18, 2020.

The spokesperson further asserted that the area shown on the map as Greek EEZ (based on the Greek-Egyptian agreement) lies within Turkey’s continental shelf. In a firm tone, he stated that Greece’s efforts to legitimize claims over the EEZ and continental shelf boundaries — which have not been mutually agreed with neighboring countries — by incorporating them into its maritime spatial planning map are doomed to fail and constitute unilateral actions contrary to international law.