Latest Turkish Provocation in Aegean Generates Question to Commission

The issue of Turkey’s latest provocation in the Aegean with the issuance of marine maps covering sea regions beyond its territorial waters has now reached the European Commission level with a tabled question on Monday by Greek MEP Yannis Maniatis.

One of the two “marine parks” unveiled last week by a state-run agency in the neighboring country designates a marine park west of the only two major islands possessed by Turkey in the Aegean, and beyond Turkish territorial waters. The summarily declared zone is shown between the Greek islands of Limnos and Samothrace, in the northeast Aegean, and beyond the six nautical miles of territorial waters of Imbros (whose name was officially changed to Gökçeada by the Turkish state in 1970) and Tenedos (Bozcaada).

Officially Turkey reacted in a “knee-jerk” fashion to the official decision by Athens last month to designate two marine parks. The first is located along much of the Ionian Sea and off southwest Greece while the another – the one that irked Ankara – designated in the southern Aegean – yet both are within Greek territorial waters.

The second marine park designated by Turkey was “drawn” northeast of the large Dodecanese Island of Rhodes and is shown completely encircling the tiny Kastellorizo (Megisti) chain further to the southeast.

In his tabled question, Maniatis, the vice-chair of the Group of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament, refers to a violation of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and a unilateral decision by Turkey aimed at creating a precedent and a continuation of provocations against Greece.

The maps unveiled by Turkey include sea regions that where a possible Greek EEZ and continental shelf would be delimitated based on UNCLOS, the question notes.

The marine park development is part of a long-standing Turkish policy of claiming that islands have no impact on delimitating Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs) or continental shelves – a nearly unique view among countries around the world.

Source: Tovima.com