Ankara is reviving its longstanding theory of “grey zones” in the Aegean, opening a new front of dispute following the recent confrontation over marine parks. This time, the trigger is the Special Spatial Planning Framework for Renewable Energy Sources, which entered into force through a ministerial decision by Environment and Energy Minister Stavros Papastavrou.

In a statement issued today, the Turkish Ministry of Defense sought to challenge Greece’s planning framework, claiming that it “has no legal consequences” for Turkey and does not alter Ankara’s positions regarding the Aegean.

The Turkish Defense Ministry went further, explicitly reviving its challenge to Greek sovereignty over islands, islets, and rocky islets, referring to geographical formations “whose ownership has not been transferred to Greece through international agreements.”

This is essentially a repetition of Turkey’s well-known “grey zones” position, which Athens consistently rejects, insisting that the sovereignty status of the Aegean is clearly established by international treaties.

Turkish Foreign Ministry and Defense Ministry on the same line

Today’s intervention by the Turkish Defense Ministry comes one day after a similar statement by Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman Öncü Keçeli.

Keçeli likewise argued that Greece’s Special Spatial Planning Framework for Renewable Energy Sources cannot produce legal consequences for Turkey, using the same formulation concerning geographical formations whose sovereignty, according to Turkey’s position, was not transferred to Greece through international agreements.

With the two successive statements from the Turkish Foreign Ministry and Defense Ministry, Ankara appears to be giving its opposition to Greece’s energy planning a central political dimension.

At the same time, Ankara is attempting to combine its challenge to Greece’s planning with a message favoring dialogue, saying that it supports resolving disputes between the two countries “on the basis of international law, equality and good-neighborly relations.”

“Turkey favors resolving the problems between the two coastal states of the Aegean on the basis of international law, equality and good-neighborly relations, as well as promoting peace, stability and cooperation in the region,” the Turkish Defense Ministry said.

A new area of dispute after the marine parks

Ankara’s latest reaction comes at a time when Greek-Turkish relations are again being tested by the two sides’ differing positions over maritime space.

It follows Turkey’s announcement of marine parks in the Aegean and Eastern Mediterranean, to which Athens responded in particularly strong terms, calling the actions illegal and making clear that they cannot create faits accomplis against Greece’s sovereign rights.

Turkey is now attempting to extend the same logic of dispute to spatial planning for renewable energy, bringing one of its most persistent Aegean claims back into the spotlight.

Hatzivasileiou: “The Turkish marine parks are illegal”

Earlier today, Deputy Foreign Minister Tasos Hatzivasileiou told OPEN that “the Turkish interpretation regarding marine parks is illegal and produces no legal effect.”

Hatzivasileiou stressed that the Greek Foreign Ministry responded to Ankara’s announcements from the outset with a clear statement setting out Greece’s positions and their legal basis. He said the ministry would take all necessary diplomatic steps at the appropriate level in the coming period.

The deputy foreign minister reiterated Foreign Minister Giorgos Gerapetritis’ position that Greece’s foreign policy is not determined by others and is not shaped according to the wishes or suggestions of third parties.

Regarding the Turkish marine parks, he explained that they are illegal for two main reasons.

First, they extend into international waters, where, according to the Greek position, no country can unilaterally establish protected zones outside its territorial waters without consultation with neighboring countries and compliance with international law.

Second, they extend into the Greek continental shelf, which, he said, does not legally affect Greece’s rights. “They produce no legal effects,” he stated.

He also pointed out that the Turkish measures constitute an illegal response to Greece’s lawful actions concerning Marine Parks and Maritime Spatial Planning, which were designed on the basis of international law and with the endorsement of the EU.

Hatzivasileiou also clarified that the policy of maintaining “calm waters” is not an end in itself, but rather a means of enabling the two countries to find common ground for dialogue.

“This does not mean that Greece is changing its positions or backing down from its planning. Quite the opposite,” he said, noting that all governments since the restoration of democracy in Greece in 1974 have engaged in dialogue with Turkey despite difficulties, Turkish violations, and the unresolved bilateral dispute.

The deputy foreign minister reiterated that Greece does not leave any provocation unanswered.

“There is no possibility that the Greek government will accept a threat against national interests and sovereign rights,” he said.