Ankara ‘threatens’ own marine parks

In an apparent attempt to broaden the agenda of Greek-Turkish issues, Ankara is reportedly threatening to create Turkish marine parks in the Aegean.

A report in the pro-government newspaper Sabah said that although no zoning has yet been done, Ankara wants to declare marine parks in the Aegean in order to respond to the plan announced by Athens, which was a point of contention during last month's meeting between Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara.

It is conjectured that the Turkish government's leaks to the press are seen more as a warning to Greece not to proceed with its plan to create marine parks in the Aegean and less - for the time being at least - as an announcement that it will create its own Turkish parks.

The paper's report said the mapping will be undertaken by the Turkish Ministry of...