The Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) has issued a strong statement, delivered by Spokesperson Öncü Keçeli, rejecting a recently updated Greek Maritime Spatial Planning (MSP) map on the European Commission's MSP Platform.

Türkiye asserts that the map violates its maritime jurisdiction areas in the Aegean Sea and the Eastern Mediterranean, calling the move an "unlawful fait accompli attempt" by Greece.

According to the MFA statement, the updated Greek MSP map, which references "competent Greek authorities," includes a depiction of an exclusive economic zone (EEZ) that Greece has not officially declared. Türkiye views this as Greece attempting to use the EU platform and the MSP map to validate its maximalist maritime claims.

"Greece, which continues to disregard the fundamental principles of international maritime law, is attempting to have the Eastern Mediterranean exclusive economic zone (EEZ)—which it has not officially declared—validated through the EU by instrumentalizing the MSP map," the Spokesperson stated. "Türkiye rejects this unlawful fait accompli attempt."

Türkiye has pointed out that the so-called EEZ depicted in the Greek map directly encroaches upon the Turkish continental shelf.

Türkiye officially submitted its legal position regarding the outer limits of its continental shelf in the Eastern Mediterranean to the United Nations (UN) on March 18, 2020.

Türkiye also recently completed and announced its own national MSP on April 16, 2025, and formally notified the UNESCO Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission on June 12, 2025.

The MFA stressed that Greece's efforts to legitimize its unilateral positions on the EEZ and the outer limits of its continental shelf—areas which it has not delimited through agreements with neighboring countries—by inserting them into the MSP map are "bound to fail" and constitute steps "contrary to international law."

Both Türkiye and Greece are conducting Marine Spatial Planning (MSP) studies, which the MFA notes are carried out in line with the recommendations of relevant UN bodies. MSP is a process that organizes human activities in marine areas to achieve ecological, economic, and social objectives.

The dispute highlights the ongoing tensions between the two NATO allies concerning the delimitation of maritime boundaries, particularly the continental shelf and EEZ, in the contested waters of the Aegean and Eastern Mediterranean. (ILKHA)