Turkey is preparing legislation to assert maritime jurisdiction in disputed areas of the Aegean and Mediterranean seas, a move that could add pressure to already sensitive relations with Greece and Cyprus, Bloomberg reported on Friday, citing people familiar with the matter.
The proposed bill would seek to formalize Ankara’s claims over maritime zones where Turkey, Greece and Cyprus hold competing positions on continental shelf rights, exclusive economic zones and potential offshore energy resources. According to Bloomberg, the draft legislation is intended to strengthen Turkey’s legal position and declare rights over possible natural gas reserves in contested waters. Turkey’s Foreign Ministry declined to comment on the report, the news agency said.
The timing of the bill’s submission to parliament remains unclear. It is also not yet clear whether the proposal would cover only areas already included in Turkey’s existing maritime claims or whether it would introduce new legal definitions concerning the Aegean, the Eastern Mediterranean or waters around Cyprus.
The issue comes at a time when maritime boundaries, energy exploration and regional security arrangements have returned to the agenda in the Eastern Mediterranean. Turkey and Greece, both NATO members, have long-standing disagreements over the Aegean Sea, including the breadth of territorial waters, airspace, continental shelf rights and the maritime zones generated by islands.
Greece maintains that its islands are entitled to continental shelves and exclusive economic zones under international law. Turkey argues that islands located close to the Turkish mainland should not automatically generate the same maritime claims as mainland territory, particularly in enclosed or semi-enclosed seas such as the Aegean and Eastern Mediterranean.
Turkey is not a party to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, the main international treaty governing maritime zones. Ankara has argued that some provisions of the convention do not adequately reflect the geographical realities of the Aegean, while Athens says its maritime positions are based on international law.
The reported legislation could also have implications for Cyprus. The Republic of Cyprus, an EU member state, is internationally recognized as sovereign over the island. The Turkish Cypriot administration in the north is recognized only by Turkey. Ankara says Turkish Cypriots have equal rights to offshore energy resources around the island and has repeatedly objected to exploration projects and energy agreements involving the Republic of Cyprus.
The Eastern Mediterranean has become an important area of regional competition since the discovery of offshore natural gas reserves near Cyprus, Israel and Egypt. These discoveries have encouraged cooperation among several regional actors, while also intensifying disputes over maritime delimitation and access to potential energy resources.
Turkey has sought to counter what it sees as efforts to exclude it from regional energy arrangements. In 2019, Ankara signed a maritime boundary agreement with Libya’s Tripoli-based government. Greece, Cyprus and the European Union rejected the deal, saying it disregarded the maritime rights of Greek islands and affected areas claimed by EU member states. Turkey has defended the agreement as consistent with its interpretation of international law and its continental shelf claims.
The reported bill follows recent disagreements between Ankara and Athens over maritime planning and fishing restrictions. In 2025, Greece protested a Turkish maritime spatial planning initiative, saying it had no legal basis in areas claimed by Greece. Turkey, in turn, has criticized Greek maritime maps and restrictions that it says overlap with Turkish jurisdictional claims.
The development also comes as Greece, Cyprus and Israel have deepened defense and energy cooperation in the Eastern Mediterranean. Reuters reported in late 2025 that Greece, Israel and Cyprus agreed to step up joint military exercises in 2026, including air and naval activities in the region.
Another point of tension has been the planned electricity interconnector linking Greece, Cyprus and Israel. Turkey has objected to parts of the project’s route, arguing that it passes through areas where Ankara claims jurisdiction and that it does not take Turkish Cypriot interests into account. The European Union has supported the project, which is intended to connect Cyprus more closely to regional and European energy networks.
Devlet Bahçeli, leader of the Nationalist Movement Party and a key political ally of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, warned this week that Turkey would respond to initiatives that disregard its maritime claims or the rights of Turkish Cypriots. His remarks followed growing security and energy coordination among Greece, Cyprus, France and Israel, which Ankara has viewed with concern.
Analysts say the proposed bill, if submitted, would be significant because it would place Turkey’s maritime claims into domestic law rather than leaving them primarily as diplomatic, military or administrative positions. Such a move could strengthen Ankara’s internal legal framework, but it could also complicate future negotiations with Greece and Cyprus if the law defines disputed areas in rigid terms.
For Greece and Cyprus, the legislation would likely be seen as another attempt by Turkey to consolidate claims in areas they consider part of their own maritime jurisdiction. For Turkey, the bill would fit into a broader strategy of asserting its interpretation of maritime rights and preventing regional energy projects from moving forward without Turkish participation or Turkish Cypriot consent.
The bill, if formally introduced, could test the recent improvement in Turkish-Greek relations. Ankara and Athens have sought in recent years to maintain dialogue after periods of sharp tension over migration, military exercises, exploration activity and territorial disputes. However, maritime jurisdiction remains one of the most difficult issues between the two countries and has repeatedly triggered diplomatic crises.
For now, the details of the draft legislation remain limited. Its political impact will depend on the wording of the bill, the maritime areas it covers, and whether Ankara presents it as a declaratory measure or as a basis for new exploration, drilling or enforcement activity.
If approved, the legislation could bring renewed attention to one of the Eastern Mediterranean’s central unresolved disputes: how maritime zones should be defined in a region where overlapping claims, island geography, energy interests and security alliances intersect.
