Blue Homeland Bill to Be Presented to Parliament: 6-Mile Limit in the Aegean to Be Preserved

The draft bill for the Blue Homeland Law, which will regulate Turkey's maritime jurisdiction areas, is ready to be submitted to Parliament. At a press conference organized by Ankara University's National Center for Maritime Law Research (DEHUKAM), details of the draft law were shared with the public. The meeting was attended by Prof. Çağrı Erhan, Deputy Head of the Presidential Security and Foreign Policies Council; Süleyman Önel, Head of DEHUKAM; and Prof. Yücel Acer, member of the Presidential Legal Policies Council. DEHUKAM Director Dr. Mustafa Başkara stated that the law is a framework law and will serve as the fundamental regulation for determining the boundaries of Turkish maritime jurisdiction areas. The law covers rights and authorities in internal waters, territorial waters, contiguous zone, continental shelf, and exclusive economic zone. Additionally, the Montreux Convention Regarding the Regime of the Straits is explicitly mentioned for the first time in this law, ensuring that processes related to the Straits regime are implemented at the legislative level. The law authorizes the President to declare special-status maritime areas for purposes such as fishing and marine protection in regions where an exclusive economic zone has not been declared. In the Aegean Sea, Turkey's territorial waters width is preserved at 6 nautical miles. Prof. Yücel Acer emphasized that this regulation is not intended to create a new dispute with Greece but rather aims to resolve issues through dialogue. While the law allows for the declaration of territorial waters wider than 6 nautical miles in regions such as the Black Sea and the Eastern Mediterranean, it confirms that no territorial waters expansion beyond the 6-mile limit will be accepted in the Aegean. In line with the decision taken by the Turkish Grand National Assembly in 1995, the government will continue to be granted the necessary authorities against such initiatives. This is not investment advice.