In a statement that refuted Turkey’s reactions regarding Greece’s Maritime Spatial Planning map, the Foreign Ministry responded through its spokesperson, Lana Zochios. “The update of Greece’s Maritime Spatial Planning map on the European Commission’s platform was carried out in accordance with Directive 2014/89, international maritime law, and bilateral agreements that our country has concluded,” Ms. Zochios commented, emphasizing that where no bilateral demarcation of Exclusive Economic Zone has occurred, the outermost potential limits are depicted according to the median line.
Read: Ankara’s reactions against Athens over Maritime Spatial Planning: Claims of “illegal fait accompli”
“Greece’s positions on this matter have been repeatedly articulated both bilaterally and within the framework of the European Union and the United Nations. Turkey’s reactions have no basis in EU or international law,” the Foreign Ministry spokesperson concluded in her announcement.
The Turkish Foreign Ministry had previously accused Greece of violating international law in an earlier statement. It emphasized that “its attempts to legitimize the external boundaries of its continental shelf that have not been demarcated with its neighbors by incorporating them into the MSP map are doomed to failure from the outset and constitute unilateral steps that violate international law.”
Full statement from the Turkish Foreign Ministry
“Turkey closely monitors Maritime Spatial Planning (MSP) activities, which are conducted in accordance with recommendations from competent UN bodies. As is known, our country announced its national MSP on April 16, 2025, and communicated it to UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission on June 12, 2025.
On the European Commission’s MSP Platform website, it was found that the Greek map, which violates Turkey’s maritime zones of jurisdiction in the Aegean and Eastern Mediterranean, has been updated with reference to ‘competent Greek authorities’.
It becomes clear that Greece, which continues to ignore the fundamental principles of international maritime law, is attempting to impose through the EU – using the DMP map as a tool – an exclusive economic zone (EEZ) in the Eastern Mediterranean that it has not officially declared. Our country rejects this legally unfounded attempt to create fait accompli.
Turkey notified the UN in total, on March 18, 2020, of its legal position regarding the external boundaries of its continental shelf in the Eastern Mediterranean. From this perspective, the alleged EEZ depicted on the Greek DMP map in the Eastern Mediterranean lies within the Turkish continental shelf.
Greece’s conceptions regarding EEZ and its attempts to legitimize the external boundaries of its continental shelf that have not been demarcated with its neighbors by incorporating them into the MSP map are doomed to failure from the outset and constitute unilateral steps that violate international law.”
