Blue Homeland

Mavi Vatan is a strategic concept encompassing all maritime jurisdictional areas of the Republic of Türkiye that have been declared or are anticipated to be declared within the framework of international law. Beyond merely a geographical term, it represents a comprehensive national strategy encompassing Türkiye’s sovereignty, security, economic resource utilization, and geopolitical objectives in the seas.

Primarily, the concept of Mavi Vatan defines Türkiye as a maritime nation. In this context, its principal architect, Admiral Cihat Yaycı, defines the term in his work Mavi Vatan: A Map and a Doctrine Book – Türkiye’s Maritime Misak-ı Milli as follows: “All Turkish Maritime Jurisdictional Areas declared or anticipated to be declared in accordance with rights and interests derived from international law are referred to as Mavi Vatan.” Within this framework, the phrase “Turkish Maritime Jurisdictional Areas” is replaced by “Mavi Vatan.”^【1】

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Historical Background

The Turks, who established numerous empires and states throughout history, have been intimately connected with the seas since their earliest appearances on the historical stage. In the final section of the epic named after Oğuz Kağan, one of the earliest figures in Turkish history, he addresses his son and chieftains with these words:

"Takı taluy takı müren

Kün tuğ bolgıl kök kurıkan"^【3】 

This verse, translatable into modern Turkish as “Beyond the sea, beyond the river / Let the sun’s flag be, let the sky be the tent,” is regarded as a reflection of the concept of Mavi Vatan and the Turkish civilization’s conception of its relationship with the seas and seafaring.

After the Turks embraced Islam, the Seljuks began living along and interacting with the Sea of Oman, the Sea of Marmara, the Black Sea, the Islands (Aegean) Sea, and the Eastern Mediterranean, becoming a maritime state and striving to establish a lasting presence in Anatolia.

Meanwhile, the Ottoman State demonstrated success in becoming a global empire through its expansion at sea. Beginning in the late 15th century, the Ottoman State realized the maxim of Barbaros Hayrettin Paşa: “He who dominates the seas dominates the world,” and emerged as a powerful and significant maritime empire. This success revealed the truth that the Turks are a seafaring people, provided their maritime orientation was properly managed and directed. It is documented that the Ottoman State transformed the Black Sea into an Ottoman inland sea between 1484 and 1774, and the Islands (Aegean) Sea into an Ottoman inland sea between 1669 and 1830, maintaining absolute sovereignty over the Turkish Straits for approximately three centuries and turning the island of Crete into the southern outpost of the Dardanelles. Particularly in the Central and Eastern Mediterranean, the Ottoman State denied passage rights to ships of states without treaties, establishing partial maritime dominance and complete control over the sea, extending its presence and flags into the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf, and beyond into the oceans. Like all similar states, the Ottoman State declined as its emphasis on the sea and seafaring diminished and it was increasingly drawn back toward the Anatolian coasts.

Upon the founding of the Republic of Türkiye in 1923, the importance of seafaring and the seas was formally established as a national objective in Mustafa Kemal Atatürk’s opening speech to the Grand National Assembly on 1 November 1937, when he stated: “We must regard seafaring as the great national aspiration of the Turk and accomplish it in a short time.”^【4】

On 2 March 2004, Türkiye, through a note submitted to the United Nations, formally asserted its sovereign rights over certain maritime areas in the west for the first time. Subsequently, in a second note dated 4 October 2005, it specified that the maritime areas lying north of 34° latitude and between longitudes 32°16′18″ and 28° east belong to Türkiye’s continental shelf, and that this boundary extends westward from 28° east longitude across the Islands (Aegean) Sea into the Mediterranean. During this period, the Turkish Naval Forces launched the Mediterranean Shield Operation in 2006.

The concept of Mavi Vatan emerged from the need to define and protect maritime jurisdictional areas and was systematically introduced in 2010 in Cihat Yaycı’s work Basic Maritime Law.^【5】 Shaped through Cihat Yaycı’s contributions, this concept gained significant importance in Türkiye’s military strategies in the seas after 2015. In 2019, for the first time in Turkish history, the comprehensive Mavi Vatan Exercise was conducted simultaneously, encompassing the Black Sea, the Islands (Aegean) Sea, and the Mediterranean.

Türkiye-Libya Maritime Jurisdictional Area (Exclusive Economic Zone) Boundary Agreement

The agreement on delimiting maritime jurisdictional areas between Türkiye and Libya is one of the concrete steps of the Mavi Vatan doctrine. One of the key figures in this agreement is Admiral Cihat Yaycı.

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On 27 November 2019, the Government of the Republic of Türkiye and the Government of the Libyan Government of National Accord signed the “Memorandum of Understanding on the Delimitation of Maritime Jurisdictional Areas in the Mediterranean” (effective: 8 December 2019; registration number: 56119; registration date: 11 December 2019), which was later published by the United Nations. Subsequently, on 18 March 2020, a map was submitted to the United Nations (A/74/757) that included the Türkiye-Libya Maritime Jurisdictional Area Delimitation Agreement and delineated the Türkiye-Egypt continental shelf median line. Through this declared agreement, Türkiye and Libya became maritime neighbors.

On 30 May 2020, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Türkiye issued a licensing principle for the area between the Türkiye-Libya line and 26° east longitude. The licensing tender concluded after a 90-day period on 30 August 2020, with the license awarded to TPAO.

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Subsequently, in a letter dated 2 July 2020 submitted to the United Nations by Türkiye’s Permanent Mission, it was emphasized that Türkiye’s drilling activities within its continental shelf would continue resolutely.

Legal Foundations

The concept of Mavi Vatan and consequently the Mavi Vatan Map have been developed in accordance with principles derived from relevant international court rulings in maritime law, including the principle of “equity,” as well as the principles of “proportionality,” “non-encroachment,” and “geographical superiority.”

In this context, the legal basis of Mavi Vatan is constituted by principles arising from international maritime law. The key principles are:

• Equity
• Proportionality
• Non-encroachment
• Geographical Superiority
• Encirclement

The Mavi Vatan Map, drawn on the basis of these principles, encompasses Türkiye’s continental shelf and Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) areas in the Black Sea, the Sea of Marmara, the Islands (Aegean) Sea, and the Eastern Mediterranean.

Geographical Scope

Mavi Vatan is recognized as Türkiye’s Maritime Misak-ı Milli. The seas are not merely economic resources for Türkiye; they are integral parts of the homeland where sovereignty extends, deterrence is built, and independence must be preserved.

Therefore, the seas surrounding Türkiye constitute the fundamental scope of the Mavi Vatan concept.

• Black Sea: Boundaries were clarified through a continental shelf delimitation agreement with the USSR in 1978 and the declaration of the EEZ in 1986.
• Sea of Marmara: It is Türkiye’s internal sea, entirely under its sovereignty.
• Islands (Aegean) Sea: The Mavi Vatan component in the Aegean Sea lies at the center of fundamental geopolitical issues, including the Greek claim to extend its territorial waters to 12 nautical miles, the militarization of islands under non-military status, Greece’s assertion of control over flight information regions, and Greece’s establishment of a 10-nautical-mile air space over its 6-nautical-mile territorial waters.
• Eastern Mediterranean: The 2019 Türkiye-Libya maritime jurisdiction delimitation agreement has enhanced Türkiye’s activity in energy and diplomacy.