ATHENS (Reuters) -Greece has protested a Turkish maritime spatial plan that designated zones for specific activities in the Aegean Sea of the eastern Mediterranean, accusing Ankara of attempting to claim areas of Greek jurisdiction in a move without legal grounds.
The issue could affect relations between the two NATO allies and long-standing foes, who have for decades been at odds over issues ranging from maritime boundaries to mineral rights in the Aegean Sea and ethnically split Cyprus, but have both helped thaw tensions in recent years.
Maritime spatial plans define where activities including fishing, sea transport, tourism, aquaculture and renewable energy projects can take place.
In April, Greece submitted a long-awaited maritime spatial plan to the EU, citing geopolitical issues in the eastern Mediterranean, among other issues, for the delay which had drawn rebuke from the European Commission.
Turkey officially published its own map, an academic work by Ankara University, this week after submitting it for approval to UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission.
The map outlines what it says are Turkey’s rights in the seas surrounding it and how those waters can be used for economic, scientific and military activities.
Turkey said in April the map was prepared in line with the European Union’s rights, obligations and laws and the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
Athens has said its map did not define any exclusive economic zones, which are established through bilateral agreements. It said late on Monday that the Turkish plan lacked a basis in international law.
“It attempts to usurp areas under Greek jurisdiction, and is not addressed to an international organization that imposes an obligation to post relevant maps,” the Greek foreign ministry said in a statement.
“As such, it does not produce any legal effect and is simply a reflexive reaction devoid of content,” the ministry said.
It called on Turkey to end its claims and warned that it would take “appropriate action in all international fora.”
A separate Greek plan for a marine park in the Aegean Sea has irked Ankara, which has said it would not accept a possible “fait accompli on geographical features whose status is disputed.”
A high-level meeting between Greece and Turkey, part of an established mechanism to discuss differences, is expected to take place in Turkey this year.
(Reporting by Renee Maltezou in Athens and Tuvan Gumrukcu in Ankara; writing by Angeliki Koutantou; Editing by Bernadette Baum)
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