TL31 - The Situation in the Aegean

A month on, and the United Nations Buffer Zone in the Sea of Marmara (UNBZSM, also simply called the "Marmara Buffer") has been fully implemented. Occupying territory defined through UN Security Council Resolution 2855, the United Nations has assumed full authority and jurisdiction in the regions around the Sea of Marmara, in particular the Dardanelles, the Bosporus, and the city of Constantinople. Facing diplomatic resistance from both the Republic of Turkey and the Kingdom of Greece ("Nova Byzantium"), ultimately both nations withdrew their military forces from the defined region and have limited their direct actions to diplomatic appeals in the General Assembly.

After hostilities between Greece and Turkey flared up once again in September of 2020, the United Nations moved to establish a buffer zone over the Sea of Marmara "for the protection of the region's cultural heritage and of mercantile interests in an internationally significant waterway". Both nations have appealed to the International Court of Justice and Greece has gone as far as to threaten to withdraw from the United Nations. Regardless of their protests the move has international support, along with the unanimous support of the Security Council (Russia in particular introduced the motion). The forced demilitarization has managed to restore order in the region, but has not extended to the Muğla/Mobolla region in the south around the city of Makri.

Although both nations claim the region, Greece in particular is agitated over the establishing of the zone as it claims Constantinople as its de jure capital, although the majority of its government is headquartered in Athens. Turkey meanwhile officially designated Ankara as its capital, though it claims Constantinople through its past as the capital of the Ottoman Empire (which the modern Republic of Turkey is the legal successor to). The conflict has severely damaged most cities in the region, in particular around Constantinople. Infamously the Blue Mosque was almost completely destroyed during the Eastern War (1981-1993), and the Hagia Sophia has been in a severe state of disrepair since an incident where Turkish rockets were fired into the city in 2004.

With the establishment of the Marmara Buffer, there are hopes that Constantinople can be repaired through an internationally-coordinated effort, and that an effort can be made to bring the Greco-Turkish Conflict, which has now lasted for a century, can be brought to a mediated end. Until then, the Marmara Buffer is now the largest "International Zone" currently existing, and with the backing of UN Security Forces there is renewed hope for peace in the region.