Turkey has designated two marine parks in the Aegean Sea and eastern Mediterranean that overlap directly with waters sur...

Turkey has designated two marine parks in the Aegean Sea and eastern Mediterranean that overlap directly with waters surrounding Greek islands, reigniting a dispute that had been relatively quiet for nearly three years. One park covers waters between the Greek islands of Lemnos and Samothrace in the northeastern Aegean. The other lies east of Rhodes and encircles Kastellorizo. Greece's Foreign Ministry called the move "illegal," saying Turkish marine park designations in areas outside Turkey's territorial waters carry no legal validity. Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said at a Cabinet meeting this week that while he wants to maintain good relations with neighboring countries, "areas under Greek sovereignty are determined by international law" and Greece is "always ready to defend them." Analysts and Greek officials see the parks as an extension of Turkey's "Mavi Vatan" doctrine, Turkish for "Blue Homeland," under which Ankara claims exclusive economic zones belonging to both Greece and Cyprus and disputes the sovereignty of multiple Greek islands. What had been a largely theoretical doctrine is now being formalized through legislation in Turkey's parliament, with the marine parks serving as a legal vehicle for those claims. The timing carries an edge of hypocrisy. When Greece announced its own marine parks in 2025, in the Ionian Islands and the southern Cyclades, Turkey warned that "unilateral actions should be avoided in closed or semi-closed seas such as the Aegean." Turkey then did precisely that, without consulting Athens. Greece has been building up its defenses for years in response to Turkish pressure, ranking 19th globally in arms imports between 2021 and 2025 according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. Its planned "Achilles Shield," an air defense system over the Aegean modeled on Israel's Iron Dome, is expected to be operational by 2029. #Greece #Turkey #Aegean