Greece to challenge EU agency green light of ‘Turkaegean’
Greece will be taking recourse against a decision by the European Union agency responsible for trademarks approving an application from Turkey to register the term “Turkaegean,” government spokesman Giannis Oikonomou said on Tuesday.
In comments to Skai TV, Oikonomou said that the decision has no political connotations and does not constitute a trademark over which Turkey has exclusive rights.
He added, however, that the procedure prevented Greece from opposing the application, which – as it emerged last week – was approved in December and has effect until July 2031, and that the matter will be investigated further.
Ankara is trying to coin the term “Turkaegean” in a tourism campaign to describe the “coast of happiness.”
“The Aegean Region of Türkiye offers you the beautiful landscapes, dazzling coastlines, immaculate beaches, pine woods and olive groves,” the Turkish Tourism Promotion and Development Agency’s GoTürkiye website says.
In contrast to the EU agency, the United States Patent and Trademark Office provisionally turned down the application to register the term. Turkey can reapply.
