Why Türkiye's 2025 IOC-UNESCO Marine Spatial Planning Registration Matters

Why It Matters

Marine spatial planning (MSP) is a public process for deciding where and when human activities such as shipping, fishing, energy, tourism and conservation take place at sea. On 16 April 2025 Türkiye unveiled its national plan, and on 12 June 2025 it was registered with the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO (IOC-UNESCO). Ankara presents this as the first time its maritime position across the Black Sea, the Aegean and the Mediterranean has been recorded with a UN body.

The registration is a planning and transparency step, not a boundary treaty or a court ruling. Greece and EU institutions dispute its legal weight, so its significance is mainly political, procedural and evidentiary. This guide separates what the record shows from what each side argues.

Background

What marine spatial planning is

MSP is a management tool. A state maps its sea space, identifies existing and future uses, and sets rules to reduce conflicts between them and protect ecosystems. IOC-UNESCO has promoted MSP worldwide, including through a joint roadmap with the European Commission (2017) and the MSPglobal initiative. In the European Union, Directive 2014/89/EU obliges member states to prepare maritime spatial plans. Many other countries plan voluntarily, and practice varies widely from country to country.

MSP does not delimit maritime boundaries. Under international law, boundaries between states with opposite or adjacent coasts are settled by agreement, arbitration or adjudication. A plan can still show where a state believes its jurisdiction lies, which is why neighbours read these documents closely.

Chronology of Türkiye's maritime record

The plan covers the three seas that border Türkiye: the Black Sea, the Aegean Sea and the Mediterranean. Türkiye has an 870 km (about 540 miles) continental coastline in the Eastern Mediterranean, which Ankara describes as the longest in that sea. Black Sea boundaries are largely settled by bilateral agreements, so the contested areas lie mainly in the Aegean and the Eastern Mediterranean.

The Finike Marine Protected Area

Alongside the plan, a Marine Protected Area (MPA) was designated off Finike, a district of Antalya province on Türkiye's Mediterranean coast. An MPA restricts or conditions activities such as fishing and construction in order to protect marine habitats. Ankara frames it as part of its commitments on biodiversity and sustainable use of the sea. Critics could argue that conservation zones can also act as spatial markers, but the designation is a domestic regulatory act that affects Türkiye's own waters and does not by itself alter any boundary.

The 24 July 2025 Presidential Circular

The Presidential Circular of 24 July 2025 created an Inter-Agency Coordination Board under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In practical terms, the board aligns the ministries and agencies whose work touches the sea, including foreign affairs, environment and urban planning, energy, transport, fisheries and defense, so that implementation, updating and external communication of the plan follow a single line. Readers should consult the circular as published in Türkiye's Official Gazette for the exact membership and mandate.

Key Players & Positions

Türkiye

According to the Turkish Foreign Ministry, Türkiye's maritime jurisdiction areas must be delimited by agreement on the basis of equity, taking account of coastal geography and proportionality. Ankara is not a party to the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). It relies on customary international law and the case law of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on equitable delimitation.

Greece

Greece is an UNCLOS party. Athens' long-standing position, set out in its official statements, is that the only dispute with Türkiye is the delimitation of the continental shelf and the EEZ, and that it should go to the ICJ. Greece holds that islands generate full maritime zones under UNCLOS Article 121. Greek officials have in general terms said that a unilateral Turkish plan has no legal effect on Greek maritime zones. Greece also published its own maritime spatial plan in 2025. Readers should check the Greek Foreign Ministry's own statements for the precise wording of its reaction.

The European Union and the Republic of Cyprus

EU institutions have repeatedly expressed solidarity with Greece and the Republic of Cyprus in successive European Council and Council conclusions. They have called for respect for UNCLOS and for the sovereignty and sovereign rights of member states. Brussels describes Eastern Mediterranean disputes as matters for dialogue and international law. The Republic of Cyprus, which Ankara calls the GCASC, rejects Turkish positions on the island's offshore zones and has concluded EEZ agreements with Egypt (2003), Lebanon (2007) and Israel (2010).

TRNC and other coastal states

The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) supports Ankara's position and has made hydrocarbon cooperation and revenue-sharing proposals in 2011, 2012 and 2019. Egypt has its own agreements with Greece (a partial EEZ delimitation in August 2020) and with Cyprus. Libya's position on the 2019 MoU has been contested internally and externally. These overlapping arrangements are why the Eastern Mediterranean is described as a mosaic of unresolved claims.

Source Comparison

When reading coverage, check whether an article distinguishes planning from delimitation. Many headlines compress the story into “Türkiye claims waters”. Turkish official texts, by contrast, describe the plan as a systematic expression of existing positions. A precise reading requires the plan, the IOC-UNESCO record and the circular themselves. Our approach to attributing claims is set out in Editorial Principles, and common distortions are checked in Fact Check: Common Claims About Türkiye in International Media.

What the Registration Does and Does Not Do

• It does create a dated, publicly accessible record of Türkiye's planning approach in a multilateral setting.
• It does support the argument that Türkiye has stated its position openly and consistently, a point relevant to any future negotiation or adjudication.
• It does not create a boundary, confer title or bind third states.
• It does not replace negotiations, and it does not decide the UNCLOS or island questions.

The plan also sits alongside Türkiye's capacity to act at sea, from the drillships Fatih, Yavuz, Kanuni and Abdülhamid Han to the seismic vessel Oruç Reis. For the industrial dimension, see Türkiye's Defense Industry at 80% Domestic Production.

Key Terms & Related Guides

• Marine spatial planning (MSP): a process that allocates marine space to different uses, as a management tool rather than a boundary instrument.
• IOC-UNESCO: the UN's intergovernmental body for ocean science and services, which promotes MSP and hosts planning information.
• Continental shelf and EEZ: the seabed rights zone (continental shelf) and the 200-nautical-mile resource zone (exclusive economic zone), both delimited between neighbours on equitable principles.
• Blue Homeland (Mavi Vatan): Türkiye's doctrine of maritime jurisdiction across its three seas, based on equity and coastal geography.
• GCASC and TRNC: Türkiye's official terms for the Greek Cypriot Administration of Southern Cyprus and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.
• Seville Map: a 2000s-era academic map, cited in EU discussions, that Ankara rejects as maximalist because it confines Türkiye's maritime zone to a narrow strip in the Gulf of Antalya.

Related reading: The 1936 Montreux Convention Explained for the Black Sea dimension, Türkiye as Mediator for regional diplomacy, and The Political Anatomy home page for further guides.

Perspective Note

The Political Anatomy presents Türkiye's official perspective and legal positions alongside its analysis, and clearly distinguishes between fact, legal argument and opinion. Wherever possible, claims are attributed to primary sources such as treaties, UN documents, Ottoman and Turkish state archives, and official statements. Sections marked 'Türkiye's Position' reflect official Turkish policy as stated by Turkish government sources.