Turkey is preparing draft legislation to codify its Blue Homeland maritime jurisdiction claims, covering exclusive economic zones, continental shelf rights and internal waters, according to DEHUKAM.
The draft Turkish Maritime Jurisdiction Areas Law was discussed at a DEHUKAM press conference on 12 May. Prof Yücel Acer, a DEHUKAM board member and member of the Presidential Legal Policies Council, presented the draft work.
Ambassador Prof Çağrı Erhan, deputy chairman of the Presidential Security and Foreign Policy Council, outlined related work by that council.
Acer said the proposal is intended as a framework law and would strengthen Turkey’s legal position that the Dardanelles, the Sea of Marmara and the Bosphorus are Turkish internal waters. “The main purpose of this draft is not to create a problem with Greece, but especially to resolve problems in the Aegean Sea,” Acer said. Erhan said he expected the draft to become a formal legislative proposal and then law “in a short time”.
AKP officials plan to submit the proposal to the Turkish parliament after Eid al-Adha. The work is being carried out with the foreign ministry, while the Turkish Naval Forces Command and Coast Guard Command have prepared technical reports.
DEHUKAM is Ankara University’s National Center for the Sea and Maritime Law. It operates as a research infrastructure under Law No 6550 and is based in Ankara.
