Gürdeniz: The Blue Homeland Law is a Step 22 Years Late

Summary: Retired Admiral Cem Gürdeniz stated that the Blue Homeland Law is a historic step that will bring Turkey's sovereign rights at sea into domestic law.

Retired Rear Admiral Cem Gürdeniz addressed the draft of the Maritime Jurisdiction Areas Law, commonly referred to as the 'Blue Homeland Law' by the public, in a comprehensive evaluation on his YouTube channel 'Blue Homeland and Beyond.' While describing the draft as a historic success, Gürdeniz also emphasized the delay in Turkey's maritime journey.

'Compensation for 22 Years of Delay'

Gürdeniz expressed that the Turkish Navy has always taken on the locomotive role in institutionalizing Turkish maritime law, and he articulated his satisfaction with the emergence of the law with the following words:

'I would like to clearly express my satisfaction that this law has finally been passed. The Navy has led in all areas related to maritime power, from shipbuilding to maritime law, from maritime culture to amateur sailing, as the most institutional, organized, and politically unaffected element of the Republic.'

The retired Admiral recalled that the Turkish public's first serious encounter with maritime law was during the Aegean continental shelf crises of 1975-1976, stating, 'Until that time, the Turkish public knew about the Cyprus issue from the sea. They were not familiar with concepts such as territorial sea width and continental shelf.'

Call for a Museum for the Hora Ship

Gürdeniz made a striking warning regarding the fate of the MTA Seismic-1 (formerly known as Hora) ship, which became a symbol in Turkey's maritime law history while conducting continental shelf research in the Aegean in July 1976:

'This ship is currently anchored at Tuzla port as the training ship of Istanbul Technical University Maritime Faculty. I have received news that it will be scrapped. Do not let this ship be wasted. We could not protect the Hamidiye, we could not protect the Ertuğrul Yacht, we lost the Nusrat, we lost the Bandırma. Greece has managed to protect Averof, the sister of Hamidiye; a country the size of a handkerchief has managed to protect it, while the great Turkey could not.'

The retired Admiral directly called on MTA to dock the Seismic-1 at Kuruçeşme and suggested transforming it into a museum ship that narrates the history of seabed mining, energy research, and seismic research. He emphasized that moving the materials displayed in the gallery beneath MTA's headquarters to the ship would provide a rare cultural service to the people of Istanbul, showing them how the seabed is researched.

Anecdote of Özden Örnek and Seha Meray

Gürdeniz included a memory recounted by Özden Örnek, a young captain serving in the Navy Operations Branch during the Hora crisis in 1976, who later took on the role of Force Commander. He recalled this memory during the opening of the Maritime Law Symposium held in the Navy in 2004:

'Özden Pasha said: 'There was an urgent need for a legal opinion on whether seismic research could be conducted legally in that area. I called the famous maritime law professor Seha Meray. He told me that there was no one trained in this matter in Turkey, but he could provide me with a French article that would be useful. Since there were very few in the Navy who spoke French, we barely found a translator and had the article translated.' Thus, Turkey's institutional accumulation in maritime law began from such a channel.'

2004 Symposium and Half-Century Call

During Gürdeniz's tenure as the Head of the Navy Strategy Department, leading figures in the field participated in the Maritime Law Symposium held on June 21-22, 2004, under the command of Özden Örnek: Sevin Toluner, Hüseyin Pazarcı, Rauf Versan, Yüksel İnan, Füsun Arsava, Hakan Baykal, Sertaç Hâmi Başeren, Melda Sür, Bayram Öztürk, Miktat Kadıoğlu, Ayşenur Tütüncü, Sezer Ilgın, Mustafa Kibaroğlu, Kemal Başlar, Yücel Acer, Hakan Karan, Turgay Cin, Canan Ateş Ekşi, Nilüfer Oral, Dolunay Özbek, Kudret Özersay, Bilal Erdem Denk, and geologist Ali Esen Arpat.

The consensus among all the lawyers at that symposium was that Turkey urgently needed a maritime jurisdiction areas law. Today, we are in 2026; it has been exactly 22 years since then. There cannot be a more striking example of the state's failure to maritime. I served as the Head of Planning-Principles for three terms; I clearly remember that we wrote to the Foreign Ministry on this issue in all three terms.

Territorial Waters, Continental Shelf, and the 'Persistent Objector' Thesis

Gürdeniz summarized the existing legal framework in simple terms, recalling that our territorial waters are defined as 6 miles from Çanakkale to the Dalaman River, and 12 miles in other seas. He stated that domestic legal rules are fully applied within territorial waters, but the customary 'innocent passage' right is granted to foreign vessels.

He emphasized that he is one of the main representatives of the school that argues that islands do not generate continental shelf rights since the 1958 Geneva Continental Shelf Convention, making the following assessment:

'There is a concept in international law called 'persistent objector.' Turkey has objected to this issue from the beginning; there are other states in the world that share this school. Greece's demand to grant continental shelf rights to islands in the Aegean, which is semi-closed and hosts thousands of islands, has been rejected by us from the very beginning. The continental shelf is a right of the country from birth; there is no need for its declaration.'

Cautious Expectation Regarding the Declaration of EEZ

Gürdeniz expressed his belief that the widespread expectation in the public that 'an EEZ will be declared with the law' is unrealistic:

'I do not think that the declaration of an Exclusive Economic Zone will come out of this law. I hope I am wrong. I say this because I know very well the conservatism of the Foreign Ministry and the state machinery on these issues.'

At this point, he harshly criticized the Greek Cypriot Administration for declaring an EEZ on April 2, 2004, based on a single agreement signed with Egypt on February 17, 2003, and for having the audacity to backdate this declaration to be valid from March 21, 2003: 'While a two-million-population, handkerchief-sized state shows this courage, Turkey should have immediately made a delimitation agreement with the TRNC since that day.' The delimitation of the continental shelf between Turkey and TRNC was finally signed in 2012.

Possible Regulation for Aegean Islets and Rocks

Gürdeniz evaluated that the law could also include a provision regarding 'gray areas,' predicting the content of the expected regulation:

'A provision could be included stating that the territorial waters and jurisdiction areas of islands, islets, and rocks that were not explicitly ceded to Greece under the Lausanne Treaty will be followed by Turkey. You would be telling the other side: 'The islands I have named are clear; the articles are clear; you cannot claim anything beyond my three-mile territorial sea.'

Mediterranean Bluefin Tuna and Sovereignty Practice

Gürdeniz provided a concrete example of the consequences of not declaring an EEZ by bringing up the issue of bluefin tuna fishing. He noted that a 250-kilogram tuna can fetch 3 million dollars in Japan, and that the areas within Turkey's continental shelf in the Mediterranean are among the regions where this fish is most densely found.

He explained that in 2009, during his third term as Head of Planning-Principles, the Coast Guard Command obtained inspection authority from ICCAT, and the Navy prepared a protocol to support these inspections within the framework of the Mediterranean Shield Operation:

'If we had declared an EEZ, the Navy and the Coast Guard could have intervened with a stronger legal basis. Currently, this gap is being filled with tools such as declaring special fishing areas.'

2002 Northern Access Incident

Gürdeniz recounted an incident from March 2002 as an example of the legal void the law is expected to fill:

'The Norwegian-flagged seismic vessel Northern Access, conducting research on behalf of the Greek Cypriot Administration, entered our waters. Our Giresun frigate stopped the vessel and said, 'Get out of here, sail south'; the ship left obediently. This exercise of sovereignty could be applied even in a period when we had not yet declared a continental shelf. The Norwegian ambassador later responded to complaints from the Greek Cypriot side, saying, 'This is a matter of sovereignty; do not involve us.'

Oruç Reis and the Interconnector Line

The retired Admiral stated, 'A Turkish-flagged research vessel is a must; this is no longer a commercial issue, but a direct matter of sovereignty,' recalling that the technical specification documents during the procurement process of the Oruç Reis seismic research vessel were jointly prepared by the Navy and MTA.

Gürdeniz also mentioned the removal of an Italian-flagged vessel working in Turkey's continental shelf within the framework of the Israel-Cyprus-Greece electricity interconnector line, predicting that with the forthcoming law, all underwater cable, pipeline, and artificial island activities within the continental shelf coordinates reported to the United Nations on March 18, 2020, will be subject to Turkey's permission. 'This means codifying an issue that is already legally our right. The law allows the Coast Guard commander or frigate commander in the field to say, 'I have authority according to this article.'

He drew attention to the potential vulnerability of energy dependency centered on Israel for Greece and the Greek Cypriot Administration, emphasizing that the section of this line passing through Turkey's continental shelf will be subjected to much stronger legal oversight after the law is enacted.

Comparative Law Examples

To illustrate why Turkey has been so late, Gürdeniz listed comparative examples: The U.S. regulated its continental shelf and seismic research regime with the Truman Proclamations of 1945, President Reagan declared an EEZ by presidential decree in 1983, Brazil enacted comprehensive legislation in 1992 with the 'Blue Amazon Law' covering approximately 3.5 million square kilometers, China prepared the framework for its 'Nine Dash Line' claim in the South China Sea in the same year, and the Russian Federation enacted its own maritime jurisdiction law in 1998.

Memory of November 17, 1994, and UNCLOS

Gürdeniz also recalled the night of November 17, 1994, when UNCLOS came into force, sharing a striking testimony:

'At that time, I was the second commander of TCG Yücetepe in the Aegean. The entire fleet had gone to sea. We were waiting for Greece to announce that it would extend its territorial waters to 12 miles that night. This is what is called gunboat diplomacy; Greece was not left with an open challenge.'

The Turkish Grand National Assembly's decision on June 8, 1995, which deemed Greece's extension of Aegean territorial waters beyond 6 miles as a 'cause for war,' also shaped the legal and political atmosphere of this period.

The Weakness of the Maritime Staff in the Foreign Ministry and DEHUKAM

Gürdeniz stated that the personnel dealing with maritime issues in the Foreign Ministry were quantitatively weak, noting that there were no more than 15 people during his tenure. He reported that DEHUKAM (Ankara University Maritime Law Application and Research Center) was established as a result of discussions with the then Undersecretary of Foreign Affairs in 2008-2009 and developed under the leadership of Professor Hakan Karan. He also shared that DEHUKAM started working on the preparation of this law in 2014:

'Ten years after the symposium in the Navy, they said, 'let's finish this work now.' The point we have reached today is gratifying.'

The Birth of the Blue Homeland Concept and Conspiracy Cases

Gürdeniz recalled that he first introduced the concept of 'Blue Homeland' in 2006, noting that it was an extremely challenging period:

'The Turkish Cypriots had said 'yes' to the Annan Plan, the disgraceful Sevilla map was published as an article in 2006, the European Union had attached this map to every document, and the Greek Cypriot Administration had declared an EEZ in 2004. In 2008, the Navy's A team was purged overnight with the Ergenekon and then Balyoz conspiracy. Those who had participated in the Kardak crisis, served in the Black Sea Harmony Operation, and played roles in the Blue Homeland projects were targeted. The way imperialism positioned FETÖ within the Navy through MI6, CIA, and Mossad has been clearly seen in this process.'

The Number of Public Maritime Lawyers Does Not Exceed 100

Gürdeniz stated that the number of experts dealing with public maritime law in Turkey does not exceed 100, emphasizing that due to the effects of neoliberal capitalism, qualified lawyers are drawn to maritime commercial law, which promises high incomes, and that being a public maritime lawyer limited to academia or civil service is not encouraging:

'We are a peninsular state. We have nearly half a million square kilometers of maritime jurisdiction area and over eight thousand kilometers of coastline. The state should provide scholarships to bright young people and send them to the world's leading maritime law faculties; upon their return, they should be employed as maritime law consultants. It is impossible to sustainably defend our rights at sea without establishing a public maritime lawyer staff exceeding a thousand.'

The Balance of Hard Power and Soft Power

At the end of his statements, Gürdeniz noted that the legal guarantees provided by the law would give ship commanders in the field a significant maneuvering area, concluding his remarks as follows:

'Turkey has not been at war for 103 years. It is certainly necessary to be deterrent; however, we must also know the law very well. The explosion we are experiencing in the defense industry is the body's antibodies; however, the body also needs intellect, ideas, and the production of arguments as much as antibodies. To the extent that we can establish a balance between hard power and soft power, we will earn the respect we deserve in international relations.'

The draft of the Blue Homeland Law is expected to be brought to the agenda of the Turkish Grand National Assembly in the coming days and discussed in specialized committees. The retired Admiral emphasized that the public should express their opinions clearly during this process and congratulated everyone who contributed.

Source: SeaNews Türkiye