It is known that Turkey is trying to find ways to either appropriate or "de-Hellenize" the Aegean Sea. Thus, after the rhetoric about the "Sea of Islands" that aims to change the name of the Aegean Sea so that it does not resemble anything Greek, now from Ankara they are trying to establish the term "Turkish Aegean" on which they base their new tourist campaign for the coast of Asia Minor.
This communication campaign has been known since the summer, but this time it is also presented in the Hürriyet newspaper, which also hosts provocative statements by the Turkish Deputy Minister of Tourism.
Speaking about this campaign, Nadir Alpaslan said that because Greece sees the Aegean as its own region, Ankara decided to promote this slogan "Turkaegean" by showing relevant videos that shows the Aegean is not only Greek, but an area that is also of Turkey.
According to the Turkish newspaper, it was found that 40% of tourists went to the Turkish coast in the Mediterranean, 40% to the Marmara, 10% to the Aegean and the remaining 10% to Anatolia.
Thus began the efforts to increase the "shares" of the Aegean and Anatolia.
See the campaign of Turkey with Greek antiquities, seafood and bouzoukia, named "Turkaegean: Coast of Happiness":
The country's advertising in world tourism comes amid a slump in the Turkish economy, and at a time when Ankara has received recommendations from the EU to avoid challenges in the Eastern Mediterranean.
George Michailidis is a correspondent for Proto Thema.
