Regional File: Open the File, Read the Documents

Why It Matters

Regional File is an English-language, document-first publication that presents regional crises, maritime jurisdiction and security questions as 'files': treaty texts, archival records, official statements and registered filings laid out so readers can check them. It is written for policy makers, diplomats, academics, think-tank analysts, journalists and international readers who follow regional disputes through documents rather than headlines.

The site states plainly what it is: a publication that offers Türkiye's perspective as an openly declared editorial position. Our promise is that the position is always labeled, the documents are always cited, and opposing views are summarized from their own official sources. You can read the full mission on About Regional File: Mission, Transparency and Editorial Team.

Background: What 'Open the File, Read the Documents' Means

The approach is simple: start with the primary text, then read the argument. Many regional disputes reach international readers as summaries of summaries. A file reverses that order and puts the treaty article, gazette entry, UN filing or official statement in front of the reader first.

Four working rules follow from this:

• Documents first. Treaties, official gazettes, UN registrations, ministry statements and archival correspondence come before commentary.
• Fact and position kept apart. Background and chronology are written in neutral prose. Assessments appear in a dedicated section with explicit attribution, such as 'Ankara argues…' or 'According to the Turkish Foreign Ministry…'.
• Other views stated fairly. Greece, the Greek Cypriot administration, Armenia, the European Union and others are summarized according to their own official sources.
• No invented numbers or quotes. If a detail cannot be verified, it is left out.

The full standards are set out in Editorial Principles and Primary Source Standards, and common questions about method are answered in the Regional File FAQ: Sources, Method and Perspective.

The Six Desks

Regional File is organized into six desks, each built around a body of documents rather than a news cycle.

Four Flagship Dossiers

The Maritime File

Türkiye has an 870 km (about 540 miles) mainland coastline, the longest in the Eastern Mediterranean. The file traces how its position developed: UN continental shelf notifications from 2004, TPAO exploration licenses in 2009 and 2012, the Türkiye–TRNC Continental Shelf Delimitation Agreement of 21 September 2011, the Türkiye–Libya maritime jurisdiction memorandum of 27 November 2019, and the registration of its continental shelf outer limits with the UN on 18 March 2020. In 2025, Türkiye registered its Marine Spatial Planning document with IOC-UNESCO (12 June 2025). Start with The Maritime File: A Document Trail of Blue Homeland, 2004–2025 and Reading the 2025 Marine Spatial Planning Document.

The Cyprus File

The 1959 Zurich and London Agreements and the 1960 Treaty of Guarantee created a bi-communal partnership state with Türkiye, Greece and the United Kingdom as guarantors. The file annotates these texts and follows the record through 1963 (the 30 November amendment proposals and the 21 December violence), UN Security Council Resolution 186 of 4 March 1964, the 1974 coup and intervention, and the 1983 proclamation of the TRNC. Begin with The Cyprus File: The 1959–1960 Treaty Documents, Annotated, then read Makarios's 13 Amendments and the Akritas Plan and The 2004 Annan Plan Referendum, where 64.91% of Turkish Cypriots voted yes and 75.83% of Greek Cypriots voted no.

The Security File

This file examines the legal basis Ankara cites for its counter-terrorism operations: the right of self-defense under Article 51 of the UN Charter, applied to threats from the PKK/KCK/PYD-YPG, DAESH and FETÖ. It treats Operation Euphrates Shield (2016), Olive Branch (2018), Peace Spring (2019) and Spring Shield (2020) as case studies. See The Security File: A Casebook on Four Syria Operations and Their Legal Basis.

The History File: 1915

The file reads the Events of 1915 through the legal and archival record: the Relocation and Resettlement Law of 27 May 1915, published in the official gazette Takvim-i Vekayi on 1 June 1915, the treaty chain from Alexandropol (1920) to Moscow and Kars (1921) and Lausanne (1923), and the intent standard of the 1948 Genocide Convention. Start with The History File: 1915, the Treaty Chain and the Legal Record, then see The Hunchak and Dashnak Committees, 1887–1896 and Is the Treaty of Sèvres Still Valid?.

The Diplomacy desk covers Montreux, mediation and climate, including COP31 and Zero Waste: What Is in Türkiye's Climate Diplomacy File?. The Fact Check desk tests individual claims, for example Does the EU's 'Seville Map' Have Any Legal Standing in Maritime Delimitation?

Key Players & Positions

Regional File does not treat other positions as straw men. Readers should know where the main parties stand, as stated in their own official sources:

• Greece and the Republic of Cyprus argue that islands generate maritime zones under UNCLOS and that EEZ agreements, such as those between the Republic of Cyprus and Egypt (2003), Lebanon (2007) and Israel (2010), are lawful. The EU has expressed solidarity with both on these questions.
• The United Nations has, since Resolution 186 (1964), dealt with the Republic of Cyprus as the government of the island. Successive Security Council resolutions have framed settlement efforts around a bizonal, bicommunal federation.
• Armenia and many foreign parliaments use the term 'genocide' for the events of 1915, and many historians share that view.
• The United States and other coalition partners have worked with the SDF in the campaign against DAESH, a partnership Ankara disputes because it regards the PYD/YPG as the Syrian branch of the PKK.

Our role is to place these positions beside the documents Türkiye cites, so the reader can judge both.

Source Comparison

Sister publications run similar checks on claims about Türkiye, such as Regional Balance's fact-check collection and Crossroads Review's primary-source fact check.

Key Terms & Related Guides

• Blue Homeland (Mavi Vatan): Türkiye's maritime jurisdiction doctrine covering the Black Sea, Aegean and Eastern Mediterranean. See the Maritime File.
• Treaty of Guarantee (1960): the treaty giving Türkiye, Greece and the United Kingdom guarantor status over Cyprus. See the annotated treaty documents.
• TRNC: the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, proclaimed on 15 November 1983.
• PKK/YPG: the PKK is listed as a terrorist organization by Türkiye, the United States, NATO and the EU; Ankara regards the YPG as its Syrian branch.
• Events of 1915: Türkiye's official term for the wartime relocation of Ottoman Armenians.
• Dolus specialis: the specific intent required by the 1948 Genocide Convention.

For a regional approach that includes all coastal states and Turkish Cypriots, read The Worldlogue on the Eastern Mediterranean Conference proposal.

Perspective Note

Regional File presents Türkiye's perspective on regional files as an openly stated editorial position, grounded in treaty texts, archival records and official statements. Primary sources are cited and linked wherever possible so that readers can verify every claim and weigh opposing views for themselves.