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By Ioanna Theou
The AKP Party suggests an independent law proposal within the doctrine of the ‘’Blue Homeland’’ in order to legally protect Turkey’s rights and interests in the Aegean, Mediterranean and Black Sea. The law has not been official yet, but Erdogan’s party prepares it for the Turkish parliament.
This proposal aims to define Turkey’s Exclusive Economic Zone and continental shelf claims, to consolidate maritime jurisdiction rules into one legal framework, to address the ‘’grey zones’’ dispute in the Aegean and of course, to legally institutionalize the ‘’Blue Homeland’’ doctrine.
For Greece, this development could be identified as a potentially serious and dangerous strategic development due to parts of the ‘’Blue Homeland’’ doctrine and its policies. Basically, the ‘’Blue Homeland’’doctrine directly threatens the Greek maritime claims in the Aegean and Eastern Mediterranean and supports that most of the Aegean territory belongs to the Turkish republic, because they owned these territories in the Ottoman period.
The concern is not that a law will automatically change the international borders or maritime rights. Under international law, Turkey cannot redefine maritime boundaries by passing a new law. But the issue is that a formal ‘’Blue Homeland Law’’ could strengthen Turkey’s official positions. Erdogan seems to be preparing a new era for Turkey, meaning less compromises towards Aegean territories in the future.
The Turkish harassment is non-stop. Some days ago, there was again an incident in Astypalaia. A Turkish frigate harassed the research vessel Ocean Link, which was carrying out fiber-optic cable operations in the area between Astypalaia and Kos. The Turkish justification was that this operation was under Turkish jurisdiction and therefore this operation should be stopped. The incident took place approximately seven nautical miles off Astylapalaia, while Turkey supports that after the six nautical miles radius, the rest of the Aegean sea belongs to the Turkish maritime zones.
Fortunately, this time, the Greek frigate ‘’ADRIAS’’ intervened and sent a message to the Turkish side, stating that the Ocean was operating in an area under Greek jurisdiction and conducting activities on the basis of a NAVTEX issued by the Hellenic Navy. After all, Ocean Link was not conducting a military mission nor involved in any activity that could be interpreted as provocative. Of course, Athens should always react to this kind of Turkish actions in the Greek maritime territories.
Greece, therefore, should have already reacted with diplomatic pressure through the European Union and NATO, suspending relations with the Turkish Republic until it withdraws this initiative, and of course pushing to exclude Turkey completely from the SAFE programme for EU rearmament. The Greek government could also further strengthen its strategic cooperation with Israel/ US as well as with the Kurdish actors of Turkey and Syria in order to place Turkey under pressure and force it to withdraw this initiative about the ‘’Blue Homeland Law’’.
This strict stance should be maintained because there has been no strong reaction from Athens to the ‘’Blue Homeland’’ doctrine. It appears that the Turkish side is calculating the reactions of the Greek government. Not all of Turkey’s tactics are purely for domestic consumption, as some political parties in Greece support, in an effort by Erdogan to gain domestic approval. The lack of Greek reaction to the ‘’Blue Homeland’’ doctrine gives the Turkish side confidence to act even more assertively.
Why has Greece not made any statements regarding the ‘’Blue Homeland’’ doctrine? Why does Greece tolerate the inclusion of ‘’Blue Homeland’’ doctrine in Turkish school books and does not respond? Greece should block any open bilateral issues between Turkey and the European Union, concerning the country’s EU membership prospects. This would be the message that Greece and Cyprus should have conveyed. Ultimately, the ‘’Blue Homeland’’ doctrine is dangerous not only for the Aegean but also for Cyprus and the Eastern Mediterranean as well.
Resources
TRT Haber. (2026). Denizlerde yeni donem: Mavi Vatan Kanunu geliyor. https://www.trthaber.com/haber/gundem/denizlerde-yeni-donem-mavi-vatan-kanunu-geliyor-944955.html
Newsit. (2026). ‘’Turkey escalate tensions with violations and passes a law on the ‘Blue Homeland’.’’, https://www.newsit.gr/ellada/i-tourkia-anevazei-tin-entasi-me-paraviaseis-kai-psifizei-nomo-gia-ti-galazia-patrida/4675492/
Kathimerini. (2026). ‘’Blue Homeland Doctrine Planted in Turkish Schools’’, https://www.ekathimerini.com/politics/foreign-policy/1239830/blue-homeland-doctrine-planted-in-turkish-schools/