Immediate was Athens’ response to Ankara, which attempted to raise issues of sovereignty on Greek islands on the occasion of the declaration of two new marine parks in the central Aegean.
The Foreign Ministry’s announcement reads:
The establishment of the National Marine Parks in the Ionian Sea and the Aegean Sea is made by purely environmental criteria in areas of Greek domination.
References to closed or semi -seas are completely groundless.
The legal status in the Aegean is clear. The Greek sovereignty in this region is clearly and definitively defined by international conventional texts.
Greece is coming up energously In favor of dialogue with Turkey, with the aim of settlement of the unique Greek -Turkish dispute, according to international law, that of continental shelf demarcation and exclusive economic zone between the two countries.
Earlier, the Turkish Foreign Minister had issued the following announcement:
On July 21, 2025, Greece announced two marine parks, one in the Aegean Sea and the other in the Ionian Sea.
Immediately after the announcement of this initiative from Greece last year, our ministry issued a statement on April 9, 2024, in which it reiterates that the maritime parks declared in the Aegean will have no legal effect in the context of the interconnected Aegean problems between the two countries. The issues recorded in that statement are still in force today.
Unilateral actions should be avoided in closed or semi -closed seas such as the Aegean and the Mediterranean. International Maritime Law encourages cooperation, including environmental issues, among the coastal states in these seas. In this context, we would like to recall that Turkey is always ready to work with Greece as a coastal state in the Aegean Sea.
On the other hand, we would like to reiterate on this occasion that the efforts to exploit global values, such as the protection of the environment in the context of the Aegean interconnected issues and the status of certain islands, islet and rocky islands whose sovereignty has not been transferred to Greece by international conditions, They are giving today A results, as yesterday (in the past).
In the days in front of us, Turkey will announce its plans to protect the environment in marine areas.
On this occasion in relation to relations with Greece, we would like to state that Turkey insists that a honest and overall approach to resolve problems on the basis of international law, equality and good neighborly in the context of the Declaration of the November 2nd and the Declaration They wish to maintain both sides.
Exercising the rights arising from Greek sovereignty is not the subject of negotiation.