The 1st Project Steering Committee Meeting of the EU-funded “Technical Assistance for the Development of Marine Monitoring and Reporting Activities in Line with the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD, 2008/56/EC)” was held on 28 April 2026 in hybrid format at the meeting hall of the Directorate General for Environmental Impact Assessment of the Ministry of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change.

The meeting was attended by Mr. Yahya Kesimal, Deputy Director General of the Directorate General for Environmental Impact Assessment, Permits and Inspections from Ministry of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change; Mr. Onur Kale, Head of Department of the same Directorate General; Dr. Didar Ergene Şentürk, Contract Manager from the Directorate General for European Union and Foreign Relations; Ms. Özge Gökçe Aktaş, Sector Manager from the Delegation of the European Union to Türkiye; Mr. Özgür Ökmen and Ms. Pınar Aşan, EU Relations Experts from the Directorate for EU Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; as well as representatives of the contractor companies.

The opening remarks were delivered by Mr. Yahya Kesimal, Deputy Director General of the Directorate General for Environmental Impact Assessment. The project, which aims to contribute to the protection of Türkiye’s marine environment by strengthening alignment with the EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) and related EU and regional marine reporting frameworks, was presented by contractor representatives Dr. Graham Saunders and Prof. Dr. Herdem Aslan. They reviewed the activities carried out over the past three months and shared the planned actions for the upcoming period.

The expected results of the project include strengthening institutional capacity for marine monitoring practices, enhancing marine data management and reporting capacity, improving alignment with MSFD, IMAP (Integrated Monitoring and Assessment Programme), and European Environment Agency (EEA) reporting requirements, as well as developing technical guidance documents and strategic tools.

In the final session, other matters were discussed, and the closing remarks were delivered by Mr. Yahya Kesimal, Deputy Director General of the Directorate General for Environmental Impact Assessment.

This meeting provided an opportunity to review the progress of project activities and to clarify the roadmap for the upcoming period.