Türkiye has changed the rules on how military prohibited zones and security zones at sea are marked, allowing navigation aids to be placed along their boundaries so that passing vessels can see where the restricted waters begin. The amendment was published in the Official Gazette (Resmî Gazete) on Saturday, 14 November, and took effect the same day, SON TV and Doğu Gazetesi reported.
Presidential decision
The change, titled the Regulation Amending the Military Prohibited Zones and Security Zones Regulation, was put into force by Presidential Decision No. 11991 and appears in Official Gazette issue 33430, according to SON TV and Milli Gazete’s listing of the day’s Gazette.
Markers at corner points and along boundaries
Under the first change, for first-degree naval military prohibited zones, navigation aids may be placed at the zone’s corner points and at set intervals along its boundary line where marking is feasible, SON TV and Doğu Gazetesi reported. A new paragraph allows the same kind of marking for naval military security zones, according to both outlets.
The marking will be carried out by the competent military commands in coordination with the Directorate General of Coastal Safety (Kıyı Emniyeti Genel Müdürlüğü), the Coast Guard Command and the relevant harbour masters, the two reports said. Once the aids are in place, the Office of Navigation, Hydrography and Oceanography, the body responsible for nautical charts, is to be notified, according to SON TV and Doğu Gazetesi.
Where marking is not possible
Where physical conditions prevent marking, or where marking is judged to pose a security risk, the commands, the Coast Guard and harbour masters will instead take the measures needed for the safety of maritime traffic, Doğu Gazetesi and SON TV reported.
Neither report specified which sea areas or individual zones will be marked first, the spacing between markers, or any change to penalties for entering the zones.
Sources
- ASKERİ BÖLGELERDE YENİ DÖNEM! Denizlerdeki askeri yasak ve güvenlik bölgelerinin işaretleme kuralları değişti! (SON TV)
- Denizlerdeki askeri yasak bölgelere yeni düzenleme! (Doğu Gazetesi)
- 33430 sayılı Resmî Gazete’de bugün! (14.11.2026) (Milli Gazete)
Photo: Eusebius / CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
