The Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs has dismissed Turkish objections to its new Aegean maritime spatial plan as unacceptable and without legal basis.
Athens issued the response on Saturday following statements from Ankara challenging the legal validity of the Greek development framework. Greek foreign ministry officials declared that the nation's position regarding sovereignty in the Aegean Sea is completely clear, based on existing international treaties, and not open to further comment.
The diplomatic exchange began after Greece announced its Special Spatial Framework for Industry and Supply Chains, a major strategic planning initiative that includes maritime areas across the Aegean Sea. Spatial planning frameworks are regulatory documents used by governments to designate land and sea zones for economic activity, industrial development, and logistics networks.
Turkish objections to spatial plan
The announcement triggered a prompt reaction from Turkey. Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Öncü Keçeli stated that the new spatial strategy would carry no legal consequences for Turkey regarding interconnected Aegean issues between the two nations.
Keçeli asserted that the Greek framework encompasses geographical formations whose sovereignty has not been transferred to Greece under international treaties. He added that Ankara remains ready to cooperate with Greece as one of the two coastal states bordering the Aegean Sea.
The Turkish spokesman also called for an approach aligned with the Athens Declaration on Friendly Relations and Good-Neighbourliness, a landmark diplomatic pact signed by the two neighboring countries on 7 December 2023.
Athens rejects repeated claims
Rebutting the Turkish claims on Saturday, the Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that repeating the same baseless assertion whenever Greece introduces a new spatial framework provides it with neither legal foundation nor any substance.
Greece and Turkey, both members of NATO in the eastern Mediterranean, have maintained long-standing diplomatic disputes over continental shelf rights, territorial waters, and airspace boundaries in the Aegean. Although the 2023 Athens Declaration was intended to establish a period of calm and cooperative dialogue, Aegean sovereignty remains a core issue of contention between the two capitals.
