TÜDAV proposes Aegean cooperation between Türkiye and Greece

As a result of the Athens Declaration on Friendly Relations and Good Neighborhood signed between Mitsotakis and President Erdoğan during his last visit to Greece, both sides declared that they were determined to maintain friendly relations and peaceful coexistence.

During President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s last visit to Athens, the stage was set for a crucial dialogue aimed at thawing the frosty relations between Türkiye and Greece. In a recent follow-up meeting in Ankara, Erdoğan and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis continue their discussions, focusing on enhancing bilateral cooperation, particularly in the strategic and often contentious Aegean Sea. This series of high-level talks marks a significant effort by both nations to bridge divides, address longstanding disputes, and promote regional stability through collaborative initiatives in the Aegean, heralding a new era of cooperation between the two neighboring countries.

However, previously both sides also gave the message that it was not possible to expect the controversial issues between the two countries to be resolved in a short time. Finally, Greece announced that it would declare 2 marine parks, one in the Ionian Sea and the other in the Sea of Islands, in order to protect biodiversity and marine ecology within the scope of the 9th Our Ocean Conference (OOC) held in Athens on 16-17 April.

In line with these efforts, the Turkish Marine Research Foundation (TÜDAV) has proposed that both countries work together to establish marine parks in the Aegean Sea. This policy recommendation aims to not only protect the rich biodiversity of the region but also to strengthen environmental and scientific collaboration between Türkiye and Greece, setting a precedent for cooperative governance of shared marine resources.

In its statement on the subject, TÜDAV argued that Türkiye and Greece should cooperate to protect the Aegean Sea. TÜDAV scientists stated that cooperation is needed to primarily protect the four conservation or marine park areas proposed in the Aegean Sea, emphasizing that the Aegean Sea is a sea whose biodiversity has been under threat recently due to factors such as pollution, overfishing, alien species and climate change. Prof. Öztürk believes that Türkiye and Greece, two countries with mutual coasts, should cooperate.

Reminding that the two countries signed a cooperation agreement on environmental problems in 2000, within the framework of bilateral cooperation studies that started in 1988, TUDAV proposes four marine protected areas in the Aegean Sea and proposes cooperation for the declaration of these areas and the establishment of a joint working group on this issue.

Map 1. Areas in the Aegean Sea that are proposed to be jointly declared as marine protected areas or marine parks by the two countries

Stating that according to the Protocol on Specially Protected Areas and Biological Diversity in the Mediterranean of the Barcelona Convention, to which both countries are parties, the parties should call for cooperation before one of the two coastal countries declares a protected area, TÜDAV points out that the two countries have the legal basis for cooperation.

TÜDAV Chairman of the Board and Istanbul University Faculty of Aquatic Sciences Faculty Member Prof. Dr. Bayram Öztürk said, “Sincere cooperation on marine protection in the Aegean Open Sea will benefit both nations. In this way, 30% protection of coasts and seas can be achieved by 2030. In 2013, Türkiye declared an area larger than the island of Cyprus, the Finike Submarine Mountains region, as a protected area. This area is the only open sea protected area in the Eastern Mediterranean and efforts are made to protect approximately 40 marine species. “The same thing can be done jointly in the Aegean Sea.” he said. Öztürk underlined that the Aegean Sea does not belong to a single country and said that cooperation should be made to protect biological diversity and living resources.