Greek Defense Minister Nikos Dendias warned Turkey against challenging Greece’s sovereignty and maritime rights in the Aegean and the Eastern Mediterranean during a visit on Thursday to the small eastern Aegean island of Agathonisi.
His remarks came amid reports that the government of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is preparing legislation to formally define Turkey’s maritime jurisdiction areas. Greek officials fear the draft bill could give domestic legal form to Ankara’s disputed “Blue Homeland” doctrine, which Athens considers revisionist, baseless, and irredentist.
Greek islands have full rights under UNCLOS
Echoing recent comments by Greek Foreign Minister George Gerapetritis, Dendias stressed that all Greek islands have the full rights provided under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, known as UNCLOS.
“All our islands have exactly the rights provided for under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea—neither more nor less,” he said. “The Aegean, like all seas, can be a place of friendship and coexistence, but only if rules exist. And those rules are international law and the law of the sea.”
The expected Turkish legislation would reportedly allow Erdogan to designate certain maritime areas as having “special status.” It would support Turkey’s “Blue Homeland” claims in the Black Sea, the Eastern Mediterranean, around occupied Cyprus, and in areas linked to Ankara’s maritime agreement with Libya.
Athens views the move as both a response to Greece’s recent maritime spatial planning initiatives within the European Union and an effort by Turkey to reinforce its claims for domestic political consumption.
Greece fears Turkey’s “Blue Homeland” doctrine
Former Turkish naval officers drafted the “Blue Homeland” doctrine, which refers to Turkey’s claims over maritime jurisdiction zones, continental shelf rights, and exclusive economic interests in surrounding seas. Turkey has long presented the doctrine as a central pillar of its national security strategy and geopolitical outlook. However, it remains at the center of disputes with Greece over the Aegean and the Eastern Mediterranean.
The draft legislation reportedly states that Ankara is reviewing the legal status of islands, islets, and rock formations, which Turkey collectively refers to as “gray zones.” These geographical features have periodically triggered tensions between Greece and Turkey, particularly in the Aegean. Their designation and status are expected to be incorporated into the proposed “Blue Homeland Law,” reportedly within what Ankara describes as the framework of international maritime law.
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