Turkey, a country with significant influence in the West Asian region. Turkey is the most powerful country in West Asia in terms of population, area, military, economy and so on. However, it is such a country, and its coastline is still very depressed. Simply put, Turkey not only does not have much territorial water, but even the beaches in front of its own home are almost all Greek.
First, let's talk about why Turkey is overwhelming. Turkey is the largest in West Asia, with the vast majority of the country's territory in Asia and only a handful of territories in Europe. But Turkey does not consider itself an Asian country, it has always felt that it is a European country. Modern Turkey was established after World War I, and after its establishment established the principle of moving closer to Europe. Because of this, Turkey, although in Asia, is almost not involved in any affairs in Asia. This makes many countries not like it very much, after all, you say that you are a European country, and Europe does not want to see you, and it feels like you are begging for help.
In addition to saying that it is a European country, Turkey also has a glorious history. Turkey's predecessor was the Ottoman Turkish Empire, which at its peak spanned three continents, including the vast Mediterranean Sea. At that time, Turkey was definitely the hegemon of West Asia, North Africa, Eastern Europe, and Eastern Europe. Even after the opening of new shipping routes, the strength of European countries, although rapidly rising, is still not comparable to Turkey. After the establishment of modern Turkey, it has always wanted to restore its former glory. It is okay to want to restore glory, but the premise is to have enough strength. The problem is that Turkey does not have this power, but Turkey is meddling in other matters everywhere in the world.
Turkey is everywhere in the Caucasus and the Middle East. Although it is a bit unreasonable, it is at the doorstep of Turkey after all, and Turkey can understand doing so. However, in North Africa, Turkey also often has a sense of existence. To know that France has always felt that Africa is its backyard, Turkey is involved in the affairs here, France is certainly not happy. Because of this, there have been many conflicts between France and Turkey. In addition to North Africa, Turkey often blames other countries, and it can be said that countries around the world have been almost blamed by this country. Because of this, some people use a sentence to ridicule Turkey: "Husky in the dog, Turkey in the country." ”
This is the general situation in Turkey. I don't know what Turkey thinks, the strength is not very strong, why brush the sense of existence everywhere. This is not necessarily good for the country's development. However, it is such a country that is shaking the earth, and its coastline is how much it is suffocated. Although the whole of Turkey has many coastlines, it is almost Greek to the beaches on its doorstep.
We know that coastlines are vital to a country. After all, there is a coastline to have a port, so that it can enter the ocean. After all, in modern times, the ocean is very important to any country. Therefore, in modern times, many countries have not hesitated to break out wars in order to compete for coastlines. If we look at the map of Turkey, we can find that Turkey's coastline is still relatively long, with 7200 kilometers, which is also the highest in the world. It stands to reason that Turkey, which has such a long coastline, should be very convenient to go to sea. But this is not the case.
The Turkish coastline is divided into two parts. One part is bordered by the Black Sea and the other by the Mediterranean Sea. There is nothing wrong with being on the verge of the Black Sea, after all, there are no islands in the Black Sea. However, the border with the Mediterranean Sea is a big problem, because there are many islands on turkey's doorstep, but what everyone did not expect was that these islands are almost not Turkey's own, they are all Greek. It can be said that Turkey left the mainland and went to the territorial waters of Greece. Let's look at why this is the case.
Turkey has a land area of 783,600 square kilometers, a population of 83.15 million and a GDP of 518 billion US dollars. Greece has an area of 132,000 square kilometers, a population of 10.7 million and a GDP of $188.8 billion. Whether it is land area, population, or GDP, Greece cannot compare with Turkey. Greece's overall strength is also far inferior to Turkey's, so how did Greece occupy the many islands on Turkey's doorstep? The reason for this is directly related to the history of the two countries.
As mentioned earlier, ottoman Turkey at its peak spanned three continents, with a land area of up to 5.5 million square kilometers. Almost all of present-day southern Europe is the territory of Ottoman Turkey. However, from the 18th century onwards, Ottoman Turkey began to decline. At this time, Europe began to rise, and the Ottoman Turks were vast and had many strategic points, so they became the object of plunder by European countries. In this way, the territory of Ottoman Turkey became smaller and smaller. It was also at this time that Greece became independent.
In 1821, Greece fought a war of independence against ottoman Turkey. The war won the support of the Western countries, because the Western countries could invade Greece through this war. And once Greek independence succeeded, Ottoman Turkey's territory would be reduced and its strength would be even weaker. This is also the result that Western countries want to see. With the support of Western countries, Greece formally became independent in 1829. However, the Greek territory at that time was completely different from what it is now, and the area was not large. And the islands on the doorstep of Ottoman Turkey are also their own. But after The Independence of Greece, a process of territorial expansion began.
In 1864, King George I of Greece ascended the throne. The British gave George I the Ionian Islands, then in the Mediterranean, as a gift. The Ionian Islands are located on the west coast of what is now Greece and cover an area of 2,307 square kilometers.
In 1877, another great war broke out between Tsarist Russia and Ottoman Turkey. Greece wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to get Epirus and Thessaly. After the war, the Western powers met in Berlin. The conference redistricted the global sphere of influence of the European powers. Eventually Greece gained the Area of Thessaly and Epirus in Arta. Although I did not acquire the territory I thought of, I was also considered to have expanded.
In 1897, war broke out between Greece and Ottoman Turkey. This time Greece, despite its crushing defeat, gained the island of Crete.
In 1912, the First Balkan War broke out, which was key to Greece's acquisition of numerous islands in the Aegean Sea. The war was a war in which the newly independent states of the Balkans united against the Ottoman Turks. Thanks to the support of Tsarist Russia, the Ottoman Turks were defeated. The Ottoman Turks lost almost all of their territory in Europe through this war, and Greece became the biggest winner. Greece acquired almost all of the Ottoman islands in the Aegean region, leaving only two islands for the Ottoman Turks.
During World War I, ottoman Turkey joined the Allies, and after the defeat of the Allies, Ottoman Turkey lost many territories. Greece even occupied many of its territories in Asia, but was later recaptured by Mustafa Kemal. However, after this war, the border between the two countries was completely determined. Almost all of the islands on Turkey's doorstep became Greek territory.
According to the Provisions of the International Convention on the Sea, if the coastline of the island extends outward for 12 nautical miles, it is called the "territorial sea" which is regarded as the territory of the country, and the extension from the territorial sea line to 200 nautical miles is called the "exclusive economic zone". According to this regulation, the islands and territorial seas demarcated by Greece on the doorstep of Turkey are almost on the territory of Turkey. To put it bluntly, some of the beaches on the doorstep of Turkey belong to Greece. In fact, it is still very troublesome for the navy to go to sea, after all, it will accidentally reach the Greek territorial waters. Moreover, according to the current international situation, Turkey has many inconveniences just by going to sea.
Although Turkey is overwhelming, the islands on its doorstep have become Turkey's biggest restriction. These islands alone can limit Turkey's development.
Resources:
Overview of the Turkish Architecture