The recent Turkish moves to establish marine parks in the Aegean and the Eastern Mediterranean are not simply another episode in the long history of Greek-Turkish disputes. They introduce a new and more complex dimension: the attempt to transform long-standing Turkish claims into administrative practice and, gradually, into a reality on the ground.
This is what should concern us above all.
The geopolitical environment around us is changing at unprecedented speed. Old rivalries are receding, new regional understandings are emerging, and countries that until recently were competing with one another are now seeking common interests. The rapprochement between Turkey and Egypt, the realignments in the Arab world, the emergence of new axes of cooperation, and the growing presence of major powers in the Eastern Mediterranean confirm that the old geopolitical certainties no longer hold.
Against this fluid backdrop, Ankara is systematically seeking to expand its regional footprint. It articulates positions, incorporates them into maps and institutional acts, and then seeks to give them the characteristics of an exercise of jurisdiction. Environmental protection, a domain par excellence of international cooperation, thus risks becoming yet another tool for geopolitical projection and the creation of faits accomplis.
Greece is right to reject any unilateral action that infringes upon its sovereign rights. However, legal and diplomatic pushback alone is not enough. The critical issue in strategy is who takes the initiative and who is merely responding to the other side’s initiatives.
Our country therefore needs a comprehensive policy of initiatives in the Aegean: a strong presence on the ground, scientific substantiation, European environmental initiatives, active diplomacy, and steadfast adherence to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.
Dialogue with Turkey must continue. Geography and History have condemned Greece and Turkey to coexist and, ultimately, to seek a path towards cooperation. Dialogue, however, is meaningful when it is based on clear positions, mutual respect, and the avoidance of unilateral actions.
The Aegean genuinely needs protection and can become an arena for cooperation rather than confrontation. Not, however, through faits accomplis.
In the new geopolitical era that is taking shape, Greece cannot confine itself to the role of the one who reacts. It must anticipate, plan, and take the lead.
Because in foreign policy, initiative is not merely an advantage. It is an element of national power.