Pre-Trip Information

In 2022, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan requested the UN register the country as “Turkiye” to emphasize its cultural heritage and avoid associations with the bird of the same name, marking the start of a broader national identity project. This effort has expanded into contentious maritime and territorial claims, most recently through Turkiye’s “Blue Homeland” doctrine, which asserts extensive control over parts of the Aegean and Eastern Mediterranean-often at the expense of Greek claims. A new Turkish maritime map submitted to UNESCO, depicting Greek islands as having limited territorial waters, has sparked sharp protests from Athens, which argues the claims lack legal standing under international law. Domestically, the push for national unity has also fueled tensions with the Kurdish population, with Ankara accused internationally of cultural suppression and human rights violations, despite framing its policies as safeguarding territorial integrity.