Greek Foreign Minister Giorgos Gerapetritis on Thursday called for the European Union’s 27 member states to “articulate a single, strong voice against revisionism” as he arrived at the day’s informal summit of EU foreign ministers in Limassol, with the comment appearing to be directed at neighbouring Turkey.

“Revisionism in an extremely fragile geopolitical environment is cause for much greater concern. It effectively amounts to the creation of global tensions to the detriment of people across the world,” he said.

Much of the statements offered by arriving foreign ministers on Thursday were focused on Ukraine and the Middle East, and while Gerapetritis’ statements could be in part in the direction of Russia and what the European Commission has previously described as “revisionism” in its rhetoric towards Ukraine and references to its history.

However, shortly before Gerapetritis arrived at the port of Limassol, Greek newspaper To Vima had quoted Greek defence ministry sources as having described as “revisionist” Turkey’s plans to codify the country’s maritime claims in the Aegean and Mediterranean seas in line with the “Blue Homeland” doctrine, known as the “Mavi Vatan” in Turkish. 

Turkey’s government had announced earlier this month that it plans to pass the “maritime jurisdiction law” through the country’s parliament after the end of the Eid al-Adha holiday, which began on Wednesday.

The country’s defence ministry had said at the time that the bill “will define responsibilities in our maritime jurisdiction areas and address shortcomings in our domestic legal framework”, and that the finishing touches are being put to it.

Meanwhile, Turkish public broadcaster TRT had reported that sources from the country’s ruling AK Party had informed it that “under the regulation, the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) and continental shelf boundaries, which constitute Turkey’s maritime borders, will be codified into law” with the bill. 

“The draft also addresses the legal status of the islands, islets, and rocks in the Aegean Sea, which occasionally cause tension between Turkey and Greece and are referred to as ‘grey zones’. The description and status of these geographical formations will be included into the ‘Blue Homeland law’,” it said. 

It also stressed that the bill will be drafted “in accordance with the principles of international maritime law”.

President Nikos Christodoulides was less than impressed at the time, saying that he expects for there to be a “European” response should Turkey’s parliament pass the bill. 

“It affects Cyprus, it affects Greece, it also other European states, but it also affects the United States, which has interests in this particular region,” Christodoulides said, adding that those interests are “based on international law” and “on the 1982 [United Nations] convention on the law of the sea [Unclos]”.

He added that the matter had been raised “with European leaders”. 

Greece and Turkey have long disputed their maritime boundaries, with the disagreement stemming from the question of whether islands generate their own EEZ or not. 

In line with Unclos’ definition, Greece’s position is that its islands each generate an EEZ, while Turkey’s position is that they do not, and that as such, its own EEZ stretches halfway across the Aegean towards the Greek mainland. 

The maritime claims of Turkey and the Republic of Cyprus clash for the same reason, with the Republic of Cyprus placing its own western boundary further west than where Turkey believes it to be.