Turkey has designated two new Marine National Parks, Fethiye-Kaş and Northern Aegean, to protect vital marine ecosystems and biodiversity.
The marine area located off the coast of Fethiye in Muğla and Kaş in Antalya, as well as the area defined in Northern Aegean, has been designated as a 'Marine National Park.'
The Presidential Decision regarding this matter was published in the Official Gazette.
Accordingly, the marine area located off the coast of Fethiye in Muğla and Kaş in Antalya, along with the area defined in Northern Aegean, has been designated as a 'Marine National Park.'
The marine area of 21,706.03 square kilometers off the coast of Fethiye and Kaş has been declared as the 'Fethiye-Kaş Marine National Park,' while an area of 1,742.14 square kilometers within the borders of Çanakkale and Tekirdağ has been designated as the 'Northern Aegean Marine National Park.'
Two notable new decisions aimed at the protection of Turkey's marine ecosystems were published in the Official Gazette numbered 33342, dated August 16, 2026.
With the Presidential decisions, the marine area located within the borders of Muğla and Antalya, as well as the area defined by coordinates in Northern Aegean, has been granted 'Marine National Park' status. The boundaries of both areas have been finalized with the maps and coordinate lists attached to the decisions.
The Fethiye-Kaş area of 21,706 square kilometers has been established under the Presidential Decision numbered 11626.
According to the attached map and coordinate list of the decision, the area of the national park has been determined to be 21,706.03 square kilometers. This area encompasses the marine section within the borders of Muğla and Antalya.
The new national park protects a significant portion of the marine areas between Fethiye and Kaş. The management of the region will be carried out by the 4th Regional Directorate and the 6th Regional Directorate of the General Directorate of Nature Conservation and National Parks under the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry.
The legal basis for the decision is constituted by Article 3 of the National Parks Law numbered 2873.
The Fethiye-Kaş line stands out as one of the important marine and coastal areas in the Mediterranean in terms of biodiversity.
With the new status, the aim is to protect the natural structure of the marine areas within the national park boundaries and to manage marine ecosystems sustainably.
The region's seagrasses and underwater habitats are also considered important elements of the conservation approach.
An important detail here is that the boundaries of the national park have not been left as a general area definition. The coordinate list and map attached to the decision published in the Official Gazette delineate the legal boundaries of the protected area.
With the Presidential Decision numbered 11627 published in the same Official Gazette, the marine area of 1,742.14 square kilometers located within the borders of Çanakkale and Tekirdağ has been designated as the 'Northern Aegean Marine National Park.'
The boundaries of the Northern Aegean Marine National Park have also been defined with the attached map and coordinate list. The decision came into effect under Article 3 of the National Parks Law numbered 2873.
Thus, Turkey has granted national park status to two separate large marine areas in the Mediterranean and Northern Aegean in the same issue of the Official Gazette.
When evaluated together, the total marine area designated for protection in the Fethiye-Kaş and Northern Aegean Marine National Parks reaches 23,448.17 square kilometers.
This size indicates a significant expansion in Turkey's approach to the protection of marine areas.
On the other hand, it is important to emphasize that the national park status does not automatically mean the cessation of all maritime activities in the regions. The conditions under which activities can be carried out will be shaped according to the relevant plans of the national park, legislation, and the practices of the authorized institutions.
One of the most important aspects of the decisions from a maritime perspective is that both national parks have been defined through a coordinate list and map.
Therefore, the boundaries that will be taken as a basis for how the new protected areas will be implemented regarding maritime traffic, fishing, tourism activities, anchoring, and other maritime activities will be the coordinates found in the appendices of the Official Gazette.
Both decisions were published in the section of Presidential Decisions in the Official Gazette dated August 16, 2026. The decision numbered 11626 regulates the Fethiye-Kaş Marine National Park, while the decision numbered 11627 regulates the Northern Aegean Marine National Park.
The national parks announced on the same day in two different seas of Turkey will be closely monitored not only for environmental protection policies but also for the maritime sector.
Especially with the designation of large marine areas for protection, it is expected that the implementations regarding maritime traffic, fishing, tourism, anchoring, and other maritime activities will be shaped in more detail in the upcoming period.
With the declaration of 21,706.03 square kilometers in Fethiye-Kaş and 1,742.14 square kilometers in Northern Aegean as national parks, Turkey has added two more significant areas to its marine protected areas.
Source: SeaNews Türkiye
