A written question was submitted today to the European Commission by PASOK-Movement for Change MEP Professor Nikolas Farantouris, regarding Turkey’s provocative exploitation of fisheries and environmental protection in the context of the “Blue Homeland” initiative.
According to statements by government officials in Turkey, the Turkish Ministry of Agriculture appears ready to implement a new action plan for the protection of marine resources and the harmonization of policies with the standards of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization.
As the PASOK MEP points out, this plan is directly linked to the reinforcement of Turkey’s alleged “rights” and illegal claims in the continental shelf and the Exclusive Economic Zone, effectively integrating fisheries policy and environmental monitoring mechanisms into the broader revisionist doctrine of the so-called “Blue Homeland.”
“Ankara is using issues of fisheries, marine environmental protection, and natural resource management to advance unilateral claims in maritime areas where the rights and legitimate interests of European Union member states exist, “particularly those of Greece and the Republic of Cyprus,” emphasizes Nikolas Farantouris to the Commission. In light of this, the Greek MEP calls on the Commission to take a position on:
1. The link between Turkey’s policy on combating illegal fishing and claims based on the “Blue Homeland” doctrine and which challenge the rights of European Union member states under international maritime law.
2. The instrumentalization of environmental protection and natural resource management to advance revisionist geopolitical ambitions at the expense of EU member states.
3. Specific measures he intends to take to protect the sovereign rights and strategic interests of the European Union in the Eastern Mediterranean against Turkey’s unilateral actions.
In his statements, the PASOK MEP calls on the Greek Government “to remain vigilant, to immediately and officially inform our partners and allies, and to take institutional action and lodge protests with Turkey, the EU institutions, and international organizations.”