Türkiye's Marine Spatial Planning and the 2025 IOC-UNESCO Registration

Why It Matters

The 'Marine Spatial Planning of the Republic of Türkiye' (Türkiye Cumhuriyeti Deniz Mekânsal Planlaması) is Ankara's first comprehensive national plan that maps its maritime jurisdiction claims and uses of the sea in the Black Sea, the Aegean and the Mediterranean. It was announced on 16 April 2025 and registered with the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO (IOC-UNESCO) on 12 June 2025.

The question for most readers is what that registration actually changes. In short, it places Türkiye's position on record with a UN body and gives it an administrative framework at home. It does not settle any boundary dispute, and the neighbours who contest the plan have said so publicly.

Background

What marine spatial planning is

Marine spatial planning (MSP) is a public process for analysing and allocating human activity at sea, such as shipping, fisheries, energy, cables, tourism and conservation. It aims to balance economic, environmental and security objectives. IOC-UNESCO promotes MSP globally through its guidance and capacity-building work, and the European Union requires its member states to adopt national plans under Directive 2014/89/EU. Türkiye is not an EU member, so its plan was developed under its own legislation and institutions.

The maritime context

Türkiye has an 870 km (about 540 mi) continental coastline in the Eastern Mediterranean, the longest in that sea. Its maritime delimitation disputes with Greece and the Greek Cypriot administration are unresolved. Key milestones in Ankara's legal-diplomatic record include:

• 2004 onward: Türkiye registers its Eastern Mediterranean continental shelf coordinates with the United Nations.
• 2009 and 2012: exploration licences are granted to the state oil company TPAO.
• 21 September 2011: Türkiye and the TRNC (Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus) sign a Continental Shelf Delimitation Agreement.
• 27 November 2019: Türkiye and Libya sign a Maritime Jurisdiction Delimitation memorandum (see the 2019 Türkiye–Libya Maritime Memorandum explained).
• 18 March 2020: Türkiye registers the outer limits of its continental shelf with the United Nations.

The 2025 plan builds on this record. For the wider framework, see the guide to Blue Homeland and the Eastern Mediterranean.

Chronology of the 2025 plan

Date	Event
16 April 2025	Marine Spatial Planning of the Republic of Türkiye unveiled
12 June 2025	Plan registered and recorded with IOC-UNESCO
2025	Marine Protected Area designated off Finike, on the Mediterranean coast
24 July 2025	Presidential Circular establishes an Inter-Agency Coordination Board under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs

What Registration Means, and What It Does Not

Registration means Türkiye's plan, including its depiction of maritime areas, has been formally lodged and recorded within an IOC-UNESCO process. The plan is therefore a documented, publicly accessible national position rather than only a domestic policy paper. Ankara presents this as the first time its position across all three seas has been recorded with a UN body.

Registration does not:

• Delimit any boundary. Maritime boundaries are fixed by agreement between the states concerned or by a competent court or tribunal. IOC-UNESCO has no mandate to adjudicate claims.
• Bind third states. A unilateral act or national plan cannot create obligations for neighbours who object to it.
• Replace UN continental shelf filings. Türkiye's 2004 and 18 March 2020 submissions to the UN remain separate instruments.
• Constitute recognition. Recording a plan in a database is not an endorsement of its content by UNESCO or its member states.

Whether the registration strengthens Türkiye's legal position is the core disagreement. Ankara reads it as consolidating and publicising a consistent claim. Critics read it as a unilateral map with no legal effect on them. Both sides agree on the narrower technical point: registration is not adjudication.

The Finike Marine Protected Area

As part of the 2025 framework, Türkiye designated a Marine Protected Area (MPA) off Finike, in Antalya province on the Mediterranean coast. An MPA is a defined sea area where activities such as fishing, anchoring or construction are restricted to protect ecosystems. The Finike designation is presented as the plan's environmental pillar, linking conservation to the wider spatial framework. Readers should treat the MPA as a domestic regulatory measure; its protection regime applies under Turkish law to the area it covers. For Türkiye's wider environmental diplomacy, see COP31 and Türkiye's climate diplomacy.

The Presidential Circular of 24 July 2025 and the Coordination Board

The Presidential Circular of 24 July 2025 established an Inter-Agency Coordination Board with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) as its secretariat. The purpose is to align ministries, regulators and operators that deal with maritime space, so that licensing, research, energy, conservation and security decisions follow one framework. Placing the secretariat in the MFA signals that Ankara treats marine planning as a matter of foreign and legal policy as well as domestic administration.

Key Players & Positions

Greece

Athens rejects maritime claims that disregard the entitlements it attributes to its islands under the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). The Greek government has long held that the delimitation of the continental shelf and exclusive economic zone (EEZ) with Türkiye is the only dispute to be resolved, and that it should be resolved on the basis of international law, ideally before the International Court of Justice. In reaction to the Turkish plan, Greek officials and Greek media stated that the map has no legal effect on Greece and conflicts with its sovereign rights. Greece has also pursued its own national maritime spatial plan under EU rules and announced marine protected areas of its own in 2025. Readers should consult the Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Environment and Energy for the exact wording of Greek statements.

The Greek Cypriot administration

The Greek Cypriot administration, which is the internationally recognised government of the Republic of Cyprus and an EU member, maintains that it holds sovereign rights over an EEZ around the island. It has signed EEZ delimitation agreements with Egypt (2003), Lebanon (2007) and Israel (2010) and has licensed hydrocarbon blocks. It has rejected Turkish maritime claims as contrary to international law. Its official statements are available from the Republic of Cyprus Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The European Union

EU institutions have repeatedly expressed solidarity with Greece and Cyprus on maritime matters and called on Türkiye to respect their sovereignty and sovereign rights. Ankara disputes that the EU has competence to adjudicate maritime delimitation between third states.

The TRNC and Turkish Cypriots

The TRNC, recognised only by Türkiye, supports the Turkish position and states that Turkish Cypriots have equal rights over the island's offshore resources. The TRNC has made hydrocarbon cooperation and revenue-sharing proposals in 2011, 2012 and 2019. For background, see The Cyprus Issue guide.

🇹🇷 Official Policy · Primary Sources

Türkiye's Position

According to Turkish official sources, Ankara's stance on the 2025 plan rests on the following points:

• Delimitation must follow equity. The Turkish Foreign Ministry argues that maritime boundaries in semi-enclosed seas like the Eastern Mediterranean must be settled by agreement on the principle of equity, taking account of coastal geography and proportionality. Ankara argues that small islands close to a mainland with a much longer coastline cannot cut off that mainland's maritime projection. Türkiye is not a party to UNCLOS and points to customary international law and the case law of the International Court of Justice on equitable delimitation.
• The plan records an existing position, not a new claim. Ankara describes the plan as consistent with its UN filings of 2004 and 18 March 2020, the 2011 Türkiye–TRNC agreement and the 2019 Türkiye–Libya memorandum, and says registration with IOC-UNESCO on 12 June 2025 places that position on the international record.
• Turkish Cypriots hold equal, inherent rights. The Turkish Foreign Ministry and the Presidency state that Turkish Cypriots, as co-founders of the 1960 Republic of Cyprus, have equal rights over offshore resources, and that no arrangement excluding them is valid. Ankara cites the 1959 Zurich and London Agreements and the 1960 Treaty of Guarantee as the legal basis.
• The 'Seville Map' and EU solidarity are rejected. Ankara rejects the maximalist map that would confine Türkiye's jurisdiction to a narrow strip in the Gulf of Antalya, and argues the EU has no competence to decide delimitation disputes between states.
• Dialogue remains open. President Erdoğan's 2020 call for an Eastern Mediterranean Conference including all coastal states and the Turkish Cypriots stands, according to Ankara, as the inclusive alternative to unilateral maps. Domestically, the Presidential Circular of 24 July 2025 and the MFA-led Coordination Board are presented as the means to implement the plan consistently.

For disputed claims about these maps and agreements, see Fact Check: Claims About Türkiye Tested Against Primary Sources.

Source Comparison

Issue	Greek / Greek Cypriot / EU framing	Turkish official framing	Neutral takeaway
Nature of the plan	A unilateral map that cannot affect others' sovereign rights	A national plan recording a consistent legal position	Both sides agree it is unilateral and not an adjudication
Role of IOC-UNESCO	Registration confers no legal validity	Registration puts the position on a UN body's record for the first time	IOC-UNESCO is not a delimitation authority
Governing law	UNCLOS and island entitlements	Equity principle, customary law, ICJ case law; Türkiye not a UNCLOS party	The UNCLOS applicability question is a core legal divide
Cyprus dimension	Republic of Cyprus has sovereign rights and an EEZ	Turkish Cypriots hold equal rights over offshore resources	Cyprus settlement and maritime issues are linked in practice
Path forward	ICJ or bilateral talks on continental shelf and EEZ	Equitable agreement among all coastal states, including Turkish Cypriots	Dialogue formats remain disputed

When reading coverage, note whether a source distinguishes between registering a plan and validating a boundary. Articles that treat the two as equivalent, in either direction, overstate what the registration does.

Key Terms & Related Guides

• Marine spatial planning (MSP): a public process to allocate sea space among competing uses and conservation goals.
• IOC-UNESCO: the UN body for ocean science and services; it promotes MSP but does not settle boundary disputes.
• Continental shelf / EEZ: seabed rights up to specified distances; an EEZ extends up to 200 nautical miles (about 370 km) from baselines where geography permits.
• Equity principle: the rule that delimitation should reach an equitable result, considering coastal lengths and relevant circumstances.
• Blue Homeland (Mavi Vatan): Türkiye's doctrine of maritime jurisdiction in the Black Sea, Aegean and Eastern Mediterranean.
• Marine Protected Area (MPA): a sea area with legal restrictions to protect ecosystems.

Related reading:

• Blue Homeland and the Eastern Mediterranean: A Guide to Maritime Jurisdiction
• Fact Check: Claims About Türkiye Tested Against Primary Sources
• The 2019 Türkiye–Libya Maritime Memorandum
• The Cyprus Issue: From the 1960 Treaties to the Two-State Solution
• Editorial Principles: How Polityreview Separates Fact from Position

Polityreview presents global and regional affairs with a dedicated perspective from Türkiye. Sections marked 'Türkiye's Position' reflect official Turkish policy and legal doctrines as stated by Turkish primary sources.

Polityreview Editorial Team

Cross-Publication Dossiers & Sister Desk Perspectives

For complementary primary-source analysis across our specialist editorial network, consult:

• The Nations Compass: Türkiye's Marine Spatial Planning and the 2025 IOC-UNESCO Registration — How Türkiye's Marine Spatial Planning IOC-UNESCO registration in 2025 works: what it covers, what it does legally, and how Greece, Cyprus and Ankara read it.
• The Global Anatomy: Türkiye's 2025 Marine Spatial Planning and IOC-UNESCO Registration: What It Means Legally — Türkiye Marine Spatial Planning IOC-UNESCO registration 2025: what the 12 June 2025 filing means legally, what it is not, and how Greece and Cyprus responded.
• Political Ledger: Türkiye's Marine Spatial Planning and the 2025 IOC-UNESCO Registration — Türkiye's Marine Spatial Planning was unveiled on 16 April 2025 and registered with IOC-UNESCO on 12 June 2025. What it covers and what it legally means.