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Relationship with Marine Environmental Consciousness and Maritime Culture in Turkey

The maritime states, which have adopted the tradition of using the seas continuously in the historical process, have increased their power and wealth by the way of maritime culture and tradition they have created, and have become more sensitive to the marine environment. In this article, how the maritime culture was acquired, its effects on the maritimization of countries, and environmental awareness were examined, and the things to be done for the future social life were investigated. It has been observed that the maritime strategy implemented by developed countries is remarkable in all areas of life from the individual to the state, in terms of understanding the importance of maritimization and finding its application area. It was discussed the general situation in maritime culture and marine environmental awareness in Turkey. It is important to ensure that the public is well informed and to gain this awareness and to voluntarily participate in activities aimed at protecting the marine environment. As a result, the importance of conveying scientific findings to the public in a language that can be easily understood and the emphasis of the state on maritime culture and policies towards the conservation of the marine environment with a holistic approach were emphasized.


Introduction
With the beginning of the age of discovery, the colonization process over the seas has accelerated since the 15 th century. Portuguese was the first country to reach the rich sources of the East. In this era, especially Muslim sailors and astronomers have developed astonishingly rigorous maps for the journeys of Arab merchants in the Indian Ocean. Later, the Portuguese captured these maps depicting distant regions through Arabs and Muslims, and continued their Eastern expeditions with confidence (Billig, 2019). In the maritime field, the development of the astrolabe, compass, Latin sail, triple mast system, aft rudder, and square backbone has been revolutionary inventions (Hobson, 2015). Portuguese sailors created their "Caravelle" and "Nou" type of seaworthy ships which are capable of long sailings in the oceans. For the first time in the history Portuguese navy used the guns on board of Caravelle type of ships (Schwarz, 2008).
European states first traded precious goods such as spices and silk on their sea voyages to the east, and then freely used other underground and aboveground resources in the region to ensure the gradual growth of their economies. The close relationship of Western states with the seas continued to increase in the following centuries and many inventions and scientific innovations in the maritime field emerged. In parallel with their strategic predictions based on the maritime tradition, seafarer countries (especially Great Britain) gave the priority to maritime trade and used the naval force mainly to protect this trade (Black, 2004). Western states, which have a maritime vision and adopted seafaring life as a lifestyle, have increased their power and wealth (Lambert, 2018). It is seen that countries that use the seas as a means of hegemony and maintain the maritime tradition still play an active role in the maritime world and acquire great economic gains.
In the historical process, it is possible to come across findings that the maritime culture is the root of the public's sensitivity to the marine environment. In the developed western world in terms of civilization and economic prosperity, maritime culture was established at the end of a difficult and arduous process. States' longterm, patient and conscious maritime policies have created synergy with the public's interest in the seas, and thus the maritime culture has emerged over a long period. The issue can be clarified by examining some examples in history. For example, a wooden ship named "May Flower" set sail from Southampton, England, under the direction of Captain Christopher Jones on September 06, 1620. The ship reached Cape Cod on the east coast of the newly discovered American continent after a two-month cruise. These people were instrumental in the establishment of today's the United States of America (Burstein, 2020;Dekker, 2018;Terzi and Gazioğlu, 2016). These people, who have the adventurous nature of maritime, have enabled the emergence of a new state utilizing their maritime culture and courage. The first settlement where the people who founded this state started their lives in the new continent is still preserved today. The ship "May Flower", which is similar to that made of wood, continues to exist symbolically so that the memories of the maritime history are kept alive. The monumental ship "HMS Victory", the hero of the Trafalgar war, is a fully wooden ship built-in 1759, connected to a dock in Portsmouth, and is preserved rigorously and with care today (BBC, 2011). One of the oldest ships "Cutty Sark", built in 1870, used by the British numerous times on their Far East voyages, is another symbol of a maritime culture that is visited every day in a stone pool in Greenwich (Royal Museums Greenwich (2021). These ships are now respected as wealth and cultural heritage not only of Britain but also of the maritime world. When entering the all-wooden "USS Constitution" made in 1798 in Boston, you will see an honor letter saying "You are entering an active ship of the American Navy" (USS Constitution Museum, 2021). Many ships in the ports of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Scandinavian countries are carefully preserved as symbols of the maritime culture and kept open to the public. In addition to these important ships, thanks to the great works of explorers such as Magellan, Captain Cook, Scott, and Amundsen, "Maritime Nations" were born as a natural result and created a rich maritime culture. The basic arts of all seafaring countries, such as writing, music, and painting, are full of riches reflected significantly from the sea. Numerous novels have been written about seas and many motion pictures have been made. The sea naturally entered the life of the maritime nations, settling in the behavior, character, and genes of its people and acquired an inherited feature over time. The people of the maritime countries have been closely connected with the sea, the wind, the creatures in the sea, and the ships, so that their societies have completely formed knowledge, customs, and traditions originating from the sea (Çetin et al., 2020).
To keep the maritime culture alive and spread, maritime states, especially the USA, have carried out many activities in a systematic and planned manner, starting with children of primary school age (İşipek, 1997). For example, in the maritime museum of "San Francisco National Maritime Historical Park" established around the breakwater in the center of the city in the USA, there is a site consisting of historical ships, open areas where objects used on ships are exhibited, and sales stores. On the sailing ship named Balclutha here, young children are engaged in activities such as deck cleaning, cooking, lifting loads using hoist equipment, rowing in the breakwater with lifeboats, and other similar maritime activities. All these activities are given to children in a game order to ensure that they are surrounded by the sea, children who are brought here for weekend holidays spend the night in this ship with sleeping bags and receive maritime memorial objects presented to them on their return.
Another example is the "Mystic Seaport" in the state of Connecticut, which is open 365 days a year. Spreading over a 68-acre vast area, Mystic Seaport is a 19 th -century port town rebuilt by its original. In this park, 41 buildings such as a shipyard, school, church, bank, printing house, boat workshops, carpentry shop, sail workshop, rope workshop, planetarium, shipping shops, taverns, and fishing net warehouses, which were established in 1937 and have been preserved until today. There are also eight galleries where different exhibitions are held. Visitors can also visit Charles W. Morgan sailing whale ship built-in 1841, the Joseph Conrad sailing training ship built-in 1882, the coal-powered Sabino ferry built-in 1908, and the L. A. Dunton fishing boat built-in 1921. The staff in the town also wears 19 thcentury clothes. Throughout the year, tours, exhibitions, seminars, school vacation programs, studies on marine sciences, sailing lessons, sailing with ships for young people and adults, youth camps are organized. There are overnight stays and weekend opportunities for youth and children. In such realistic and encouraging environments, it is ensured that people embrace seafaring life and see it as an entertainment tool (Aküz, 2021;Mystic Seaport Museum, 2021).
In the USA, there are many aircraft carriers, battleships, destroyers, submarines, sailing ships and navy ships of various types that have been transformed into monuments and museums, and nearly 100 century-old merchant ships. These museum ships are usually operated by the municipalities of that city or certain associations, and their expenses are covered by entrance fees and donations received from visitors (Aytöre, 2001). In cities such as Orlando and San Diego, there are facilities under the name of "Sea World" that offer the opportunity to watch all imaginable marine creatures in artificial pools, lakes, and aquariums built under their natural environments. In these facilities, special programs are organized especially for children and young people of primary school age, and approximately 200,000 students are taught marine life annually (Sea World, 2021). The number of facilities like Sea World is not very large due to the big investments required. However, it is possible to see aquariums of 500 m 3 or larger, where various fish and other marine creatures can be watched, in almost every European city. The activities and studies, some examples of which have been given in the historical process, regarding how the maritime culture was acquired, preserved, and developed reflect only a small section of the planned and systematic policies of the states with the characteristics of seafaring nation.
Whether there is a direct relationship between maritime culture and the establishment of marine environmental awareness in communities should be examined. Today, humanity is faced with the fact that global marine ecosystems are increasingly destroyed each year. Major global threats such as environmental pollution in the oceans and seas, over-fishing, destruction of habitats and climate change are some of the primary problems of humanity (Polidoro et al., 2008;Easman et al., 2018). Although these urgent issues are known by policymakers, it is a known fact that necessary and sufficient measures are not taken. There is an increasing need for these threats to be mitigated, then to be eliminated, and to implement sustainable and consistent policies. Some recent researches in this area emphasize the idea that a more holistic approach to ecosystem management and the participation of the public with a rising level of consciousness may be determinants within the scope of marine environmental protection studies (Easman et al., 2018;;Blau et al., 2015;Jiménez et al., 2014;Burak et al., 2004).
Studies have emphasized that the public is generally sensitive and interested in issues related to the marine environment (Friedrich et al., 2014;Easman et al., 2018). However, it is a fact that the public cannot have timely, accurate, and sufficient information about the importance of the dangers that the marine environment is exposed to and the activities that should be done to protect the marine environment and to manage them in a sustainable way (Easman et al., 2018). It is thought that maritime culture has an important effect on the increase of the development level of societies. There are differences of opinion on the acquisition of this culture and whether it has an important effect on the maritimization process of countries. The main purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of maritime culture on the maritimization of countries and its relationship with marine environmental awareness, taking into account the historical process.

Materials and Methods
This research has two purposes: (1) To understand the effects of maritime culture on environmental awareness by examining it in the historical process, (2) To popularize the maritime culture and highlight the important activities for the protection of the marine environment. While researching it has been realized that there are limited publications in this area in Turkey. It is aimed to conclude in light of the developments in maritime history by examining mainly international literature sources to examine the maritime culture with a holistic approach. In this context, articles in maritime journals were examined, websites were searched, and information was obtained by speaking directly the people who practice the maritime profession and with the official institutions of the state.
It has also been benefited from the "11 th International Transport, Maritime and Communication Council Final Report" conducted by the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure in 2013 (Ulaştırma ve Altyapı Bakanlığı (UAB), 2013). Within the scope of the preparatory work for this report, the "Activity Result Report" prepared by the Workshop Group No.4 (Cultural Activities Working Group), which consists of academics, representatives of the maritime sector, representatives of NGOs, doyen seafarers, and the president and senior managers of all maritime sports branches of the state, has been taken. Said report operating results mainly develop cultural awareness of maritime administrations in Turkey and focused on skills needed to be sensitive to the cultural aspects of maritime and environmental issues (UAB Denizcilik Çalışma Grubu Raporu, 2013).
Before starting the definition of maritime culture, it is necessary to examine what culture means. It should always be remembered that social identity cannot develop without the cultures to which they belong. When looking at the encyclopedias, it is possible to encounter many definitions of culture. These definitions mostly express that culture as a shared set of values has a significant impact on people's lives, shapes their lives, and how they should make sense of the world in which they live. To explain better what culture is, it will be useful to focus on some definitions and explanations (Carol-Dekker, 2018).
According to Fay (2000); "… culture is a complex set of shared beliefs, values, and concepts which enables a group to make sense of its life and which provides it with directions for how to live" (Fay, 2000).
While describing culture Kidd & Teagle (2012) mainly focus on some items such as language, symbols, share, objectivity (dress styles, food, art, music), and subjectivity (individual interpretations) (Kidd & Teagle, 2012). In a narrow sense, culture is the purification of mind or civilization. In a broader sense (within the framework of social anthropology) culture is a kind of programming in minds that separates human and human communities from each other. A culture that is not an innate talent is learned over time. Culture is an important factor in shaping our feelings, thoughts, and behavior. When viewed globally, it is seen that cultures differ according to societies and regions (Li, 2005). Gandhi: "A nation's culture resides in the hearts and the soul of its people" (Clemente et al., 2019). As can be seen from the definitions, it is not possible to express culture in a single word. The culture acquired since childhood affects people's speech and behavior profoundly and in a sense forms their identity (Jackson, 2009).
Human beings are born in a culture that has certain norms and values and has predetermined roles according to language and gender. Our family is people who introduce us to our culture. As we go to school, we expand our friendship networks, increase our interactions with peer groups, social groups, and perhaps more advanced educational institutions, and increase our informal cultural education (Carol-Dekker, 2018). In our social environment, we realize that other social groups are different from us, at both conscious and subconscious levels. We accept that people who speak, dress, and have different behaviors and habits belong to different cultures.
Culture in societies spreads through local language and is passed on to other generations (Burr & Penny, 2007). Language means the ability to speak at a level that can communicate. Language in a cultural setting is not only the ability to speak the language but also the ability to understand and communicate the culture to which we belong. Therefore, it is possible to conclude that language is culturally intertwined with human beings (Hofstede et al., 2010). According to the dictionary of the Turkish Language Association, the definition of the concept of culture is as follows: "The whole of all the material and spiritual values created in the historical and social development process and the tools used in creating and transmitting them to the next generations, showing the measure of human domination over the natural and social environment". As it can be understood from this definition, since the concept of time lies at the origin of the word culture, it is understood that having a maritime culture will require a difficult process that will take many years.
Emphasizing that marine culture researches are as important as maritime culture, Horck, while defining maritime culture, states that culture is not a fixed entity, it is fluid and open to change; therefore, it emphasizes that human beings can be culturally reconstructed as their knowledge of the world increases. Cultural change is achieved when members of such a culture begin to interact with members of other cultures so that their world-view extends beyond the boundaries of the culture in which they were born (Carol-Dekker, 2018). In the historical process, contact and trade between coastal settlements in different parts of the world have been more intense and more vibrant than between settlements within the continent. Thus, coastal cities have become a different world in themselves. The creation of an environment of interaction between different cultures has accelerated the spread of maritime culture among civilizations.
Arguing that culture can be transmitted through language and socialization and is deeply embedded in the maritime merchant fleet, Carol-Dekker (2018) has shown the views of the authors who bring up ideas about cultural processes on a figure (Figure 1). The multidimensional structure of culture is understood from the headings emphasized by these authors (norms/values, behavior, knowledge, experience, interaction, historical, symbols, communication, etc.). The concept of maritime culture is considered as a comprehensive definition for all thought, customs, traditions, customs, artifacts, and behaviors that are directly related to life in the sea and/or are largely dependent on the sea and its resources (Westerdahl, 2003). Çetin et al. (2020) also included the concept of maritime culture in their maritimization model. Here, the maritime process is considered as a process that will be managed holistically by planning the 3 layers of the maritime phenomenon (sea surface and above, inside the sea and the bottom of the sea and underground) to include all maritime components. It is suggested that the maritimization model created for this purpose be defined as a jigsaw puzzle. If one of the puzzle elements is missed, the expressive logic of the figure will be incomplete. All elements of the maritime process are summarized in Figure 2 (Çetin et al., 2020). As can be seen from the figure, maritime culture is one of the basic components of maritimization.
The 3 Layered Holistic Maritimization Model consists of five main elements; maritime vision, maritime economics, sea power, maritime education, and maritime culture. The big picture must be thought and imagined in order to fully express the concept of maritimization. For this purpose, it is imperative to see and accept the main parts of the puzzle as interconnected and only parts of a whole. Based on similar examples of maritime processes that will occur with the completion of this puzzle, we can say that three main benefits will be provided to states. These advantages are "wealth of nations", "security of country", "innovative and libertarian thinking ability" (Yüce and Gazioğlu, 2006;Çetin et al., 2020).
There are many environmental problems related to our seas. Among these, the ones at the top of the agenda; Overfishing, plastic pollution, climate change, general marine pollution, oil spills, destruction of living habitats, acidification of seas, inability to implement marine protected areas, shipwrecks, hunting of endangered species (Easman et al., 2018). In addition to these, there are fewer cases of torture and killing of sea creatures, especially sea turtles and dolphins, by unconscious and insensitive people. Today, the public uses social media as well as mainstream media such as newspapers or TV news broadcasts as a source of information. In general, based on the information obtained from these sources, the first issues that come to the mind of the public are oil spills, extreme and illegal fishing, and plastic pollution in our seas (Easman et al., 2018).
The public can be better informed about the value of local seas and the possible effects of threats to this value, to encourage actions towards the protection of the marine environment and a maritime lifestyle (Vincent et al, 2011;Jefferson et al., 2014;Easman et al., 2018). To achieve this, it has been suggested that science-media communication should be developed, the messages to be given to the public should be simplified, and applied to a specific audience at the beginning (Meinard & Quétier, 2013;Easman et al., 2018).
Creating a more knowledgeable public, reminding the public of their responsibilities by making them adopt a sense of citizenship can help encourage actions to protect the marine environment. It is thought that positive messages to be given, especially to local administrations, will be effective in motivating environmental protection actions to increase the awareness of the people about the environment and their participation in the protection of the marine environment. Besides, the benefits of being interdisciplinary in science communication are great while communicating marine environmental protection strategies to the public. To improve the way scientific messages are conveyed to the public, ideas, and concepts from other disciplines such as social sciences need to be applied (Vincent, 2011;Easman et al., 2018). It has been suggested that interdisciplinary communication and interaction should extend beyond the marine environment protection and social sciences, to mainstream media, advertising, and event management (Shove, 2010;Easman et al., 2018). Easman et al. (2018) stated in their study for the UK that the public is generally aware of the main problems and threats related to the marine environment, but there may be a lack of information about why and how the negative effects of these problems occur. Large-scale campaigns to be organized by using mass communication channels widespread can play an important role in raising awareness about threats to the marine environment. They stated that the majority of the people sampled in their study obtained information about the marine environment through mainstream media, social media and TV documentaries. It is thought that transferring complex scientific concepts to simple and effective messages by simplifying scientific terms can give positive results.
Age and gender factors have some influence on the way individuals view events/activities related to the marine environment. The heterogeneous nature of the population dictates the need to prepare and adapt relevant messages to specific audiences, as well as giving more general messages (Meinard & Quétier, 2013). In this context, it is important to have a good understanding of the structure of the audience to which the message will be delivered to fill the gaps in the public's information and to ensure that they show the necessary actions. It should be taken into account that the target audience is well defined, their social backgrounds and differences in values, and which topics will be highlighted (Easman et al., 2018).
The concept of "Ocean Optimism" has recently been developed to share and spread the good news about the oceans and the environment and success stories to protect the marine environment using social media. This concept aims to inspire and encourage followers to adopt environmentally protective attitudes and behaviors by focusing on solutions to global problems, spreading positive news based on collaborative protection of the marine environment (Easman et al., 2018).
On the other hand, the shipping industry, having a crossborder nature, has an important effect on environmental pollution and weak progress in applying social sustainability aims on marine environmental conservation (Schwanen, 2015). Shipping has continuous greenhouse gas emissions rising trend in the EU since 1990 and most of the emitted air pollutants are produced by long-distance maritime transport (European Parliament, 2015). The shipping industry has not enough cooperation among the partnerships. Countries', decision-makers' and the shipping industry's interests are not in contrast with each other on environmental conservation issues. There is still a fragmented, notharmonized, and less-coordinated structure on environmental governance of shipping in the international arena. Therefore it is not easy to agree on the issues and to promulgate necessary standards (Lister et al., 2015;Yliskylä-Peuralahti and Gritsenko, 2014).

Results and Discussion
Considering the historical process, it is seen that the maritime culture in Turkish people is not settled and adopted at the desired level as in Western societies. Two variables are important in the direction of the interest and knowledge of the people who do not have enough of this culture in the protection of the marine environment. First, the majority of the population is well informed about current and potential threats to the marine environment; the second is that he/she is aware of the current conservation efforts.
Considering the historical maritime processes and the maritime characteristics of the peoples, it is clear that there will be important differences between the tendencies of the Turkish and British peoples in the issues of marine environment awareness and maritime culture. In Turkey, people's traditions, habits, priorities, values, and lifestyle are effective factors in not understanding the importance of maritime culture. As a country surrounded by three sides of its territories by sea, Turkey's not only in coastal cities but all of the cities must have the cultural awareness of the importance of the marine environment. Again, considering the historical process, it is seen that the development level of a country that has strong maritime culture ties and gives importance to the marine environment is also high.
Today, even in developed countries, the public cannot fully appreciate the effects of recycling, collecting garbage on the seas and beaches, and their choices as consumers on the marine environment. For example, people in developing countries buy fish of small sizes, according to their breeds that are not of reproductive age, which have been caught without inspections.
With the rise of social awareness, a significant portion of the public will react to this mistake. The situation is worse in underdeveloped and developing countries without maritime culture infrastructure. It is not possible to say that the people living in these countries have sufficient knowledge, consciousness, and sense of responsibility in protecting the marine environment. The reason that developed countries are better at protecting is often because of the large number of citizens with a maritime culture base. We witnessed how nature renewed itself in a short period due to the curfews imposed by the governments due to the Covid 19 pandemic, which took place intensively in 2020. Taking lessons from this situation, the importance of planning and implementing studies that will increase social awareness for the protection of the marine environment is obvious.
The phrase "maritime culture", which forms the basis of maritimization, which has a direct impact on the welfare, economic, and political power of states, is not included in the Dictionary of the Turkish Language Association. This concept is sometimes used as "marine/sea culture" in Turkey and is widely encountered in foreign publications. Since it is not included in dictionaries and there is no generally accepted definition in foreign publications, it was felt the need to make a definition by using the information obtained from the works on this subject in the literature. According to the original definition made by Çetin, the Oceangoing Captain and an academic person, "Maritime culture" is the sum of the material and spiritual accumulation that society has acquired from the seas as a result of accepting marine as a lifestyle thanks to its interest, love, and consciousness in nature and making it hereditary by keeping it alive for generations in the historical process.
Many activities that can be considered under the term maritime culture. Some of these maritime-related activities that can be grouped under various headings are marine life, fishing, seafood, marine meteorology, sailing, ships, shipbuilding, maritime history, marine folklore, maritime law, maritime communication, maritime education, marine terminology, maritime music, ocean culture, maritime art, marine special signs (lighthouses, sea flags, etc.), maritime organizations, piracy, maritime security, underwater work (underwater mining, diving), whaling, maritime related ceremonies, maritime media (books, magazines, movies, etc.), etc. However, the most important issue is that societies can be conscious of and adopt all these factors as a whole.
The basic condition for instilling and establishing a maritime culture in a society is that the state is a seafarer. In this context, when the characteristics of the states that are accepted to be seafarers are examined, it is seen that the formation of maritime forces is based on two basic rules (Bayat, 1986). The first of these is that the potential power sources within the maritime power provided by the geographical features of the country direct people to benefit and make a living from the seas. The second is that the political, economic, military, geographical, and demographic conditions of the state dictate that it constitutes a maritime power. In the first rule, the people will ensure that necessary measures are taken by forcing the state into maritime-related areas for their own needs; In the second rule, the state requires education and so on to orient its people to maritimization. It will provide facilities and use its power to improve maritimization by making legal arrangements.
Having a young and dynamic population, Turkey's geographical location is suitable for maritimization. However, maritime power has not developed sufficiently. The Turkish people did not feel the need to make a living from the seas, and the state did not see the seas as a tool of economic development. Thus, it was not possible for the maritime culture, which was acquired in a difficult, laborious, and long process, to flourish and be established in the society. Western world mingled with maritime culture, continue to carefully protect historical ships such as HMS Victory, Cutty Sark, USS Constitution, USS Missouri, etc.. Turks, on the other hand, could not protect unforgettable monumental ships such as Yavuz, Hamidiye, Nusret, and Bandırma and therefore could not leave a maritime culture heritage (Sönmez, 2004;Çetin, 2012).
In the historical process, the settlement of customs, traditions, and culture in societies requires a very long and difficult process. It is known that all of today's great states, without exception, are maritime states, love the seas, and use them continuously. Citizens of these countries have become friends with the sea by using the military, political, economic, and cultural, sports, and touristic infrastructure established by the state. Since the unity of thought and action can be achieved societies intertwined with seas have been able to maintain their existence and welfare for centuries.
One of the most basic requirements for the maritime culture to be established by affecting the life of society is to direct the people to use the seas economically to provide their livelihood. From a geopolitical perspective, the situation of the UK and northern European countries is special. Being an island state, economic imperatives led the UK to benefit from the seas, made an important contribution to its survival, especially in times of famine, and later enabled it to develop a sea-dependent economic model. Black (2004) emphasized that the sea was always the most important factor in British life, fishing and foreign trade were considered as the main figures of the history of England and that the economic power obtained through sea trade played an important role in the expansion of the empire. Also, in parallel with the development of the economy, naval power was developed to protect trade, and trade was encouraged by the existence and continuity of this power (Black, 2004). When we think about the findings of the Black (2004) about the UK in terms of Turkey; Although Turks had a peninsula state, they could not have a maritime culture because they did not base their social lives on the seas. Turks also did not aim to reach an economic power by using the seas, unlike Britain, they preferred to use the naval power required to protect trade only for conquest. Earning income from trade dictates the continuity of merchant ship activity. This makes it necessary for warships to be constantly active to protect trade. While the Great Britain Empire established overseas bases and a logistical support chain for the continuous operation of the navy, the Ottoman Empire formed its navy mostly from private ships (by bringing together only on war times with the promise of a share of the captures to be obtained). Since the Ottoman Empire did not even think of transporting the goods produced in his lands with his ships, the maritime trade had always been left to foreigners, and this situation later led to the weakening of the state (Tarakçı, 2005). Since a sea-oriented life culture has not been established in the society, it was difficult to find seafarers even for his navy and the government preferred to benefit mainly from foreign subjects for this purpose. Seafaring life has its own dynamics, rituals, tradition, and its own special language. Since the maritime culture could not be established, it was not possible to bring trained personnel to seafaring life and transfer this manpower and experience to the next generations. Since the commercial aspect of maritimization was neglected to a great extent, the great successes of the navy were satisfied during the periods when the state was strong.
When switching to the Republic of Turkey from the Ottoman Empire in the first conspicuous maritime incident which came into force on July 1, 1926 is Cabotage Law (Law No. 815 was accepted on April 11, 1926). With this law in Turkey's territorial waters, ports, lakes, and rivers all kinds of commercial activities has been started to carry out by the Turkish citizens and the Turkish cash capital. Turkey, with the enactment of the Cabotage Law, began to use the sovereign rights in accordance with national interests at the surrounding seas. Thus Turkey has been able to ensure the security of the Turkish capital and the strengthening of the economic aspects of Turkish citizens. The law, which is the basis of the structuring of Turkish maritime trade, provided the birth of the Turkish ownership, and coastal maritime (Pilotage, Life Saving, Ship Rescue, Tugboat, Lantern, Agency, etc.) gained a national identity. With this law, Turkey has been freed from the privileges granted to foreigners during the Ottoman Empire. By the mid-1930s, the territorial waters and the Turkish Straits were technically fully nationalized. The Montreux Straits Convention, signed in 1936, is in a sense an extension of the Cabotage Law (Çetin, 2012).
As it is explained, with the enactment of the Cabotage Law at the beginning of the Turkish Republic period, positive breakthroughs were made regarding commercial maritimization (Ulaştırma ve Altyapı Bakanlığı, 2021). However, it could not be successful due to the lack of a holistic policy for the development of maritimization. Since culture is a concept acquired over time and passed down from generation to generation, the phenomenon of time lies at its basis. Considering that it will not be easy to change social habits in a short time, planned work and patience should be the main policy.
In the historical process, maritime states have made their people love and adopt seafaring life with their planned and systematic maritime policies. For this purpose, first of all, they raised children by making them love seamanship, and these children, who adopted the sea and seamanship at a young age, continued their lives focused on the sea when they grew up and passed on the maritime culture they gained to the next generations. Maritime states continue this practice today.
In the maritime strategy implemented by the maritime countries, it is important to understand the maritimization from individual to state in almost all areas of life. It should be understood that the "seas are the main means of maintaining and strengthening existence" in individual and social life. Based on the fact that almost all of the developed countries of the world have seaside and prosperity by using maritime power, strategies should be developed for the dissemination of maritime culture, which is one of the basic building blocks of maritimization. First of all, it is possible to establish the identity of a "seafarer nation -seafarer state" that will respond to the needs of the society with legal regulations by giving the nationality the ideal of maritimization. The first step to be taken to create this identity should be the establishment of maritime culture in that country.
The national maritime culture is a concept that can be created by the managers guiding the people through appropriate policies and by developing the people's livelihoods based on the seas. Why the citizens of the Republic of Turkey have not been vaccinated by the maritime culture? It is evaluated that the most important reasons for this are that the necessary maritime policies are not prepared by the governments, the people cannot be economically directed to the seas and the maritime consciousness in the society is not established. The basic condition of being a maritime state is to popularize seafaring and to adopt a maritime culture. The efforts of developed countries to encourage and adopt seafaring are especially aimed directly at children. These children, who love the sea and seafaring life at a young age, continue their lives focused on the sea when they grow up and pass on the maritime culture they have acquired to the next generations. In Turkey, to place the popularization of seafaring life and maritime culture, some studies have been carried out on various dates. Although some improvements have been made, it is not possible to say that this goal has been achieved.
Comprehensive studies were carried out by the Turkish Naval Forces Command for the Promotion, Popularization, and Expansion of Maritimization (PPEM) activities (Gürdeniz, 2004). Since the subject of this article is limited to maritime culture and environmental awareness, PPEM activities are not included in detail. What needs to be done to adopt a maritime culture and marine environmental awareness to the public can be grouped under three main headings. These are;  maritime policy,  maritime education & training, and  marine environmental consciousness and coordination activities.
These activities need to be implemented with nationwide central planning. Some of the activities that should be included under each heading are given in table 1.

Conclusion
Maritime culture is a very important notion for the sustainability of a country's maritimization processes. There are necessary manpower and infrastructure potential in Turkey to create maritime culture. The important thing is to be able to implement the right policies on the right target on time. All activities to be carried out within the scope of "Spreading the Maritime Culture" should be encouraging and aim at popularizing the sea and seafaring life to the masses. The sense of adventure like marine life, being in touch with nature in the seamanship profession, the characteristics of activities such as sailing and cruising that increase the self-confidence and leadership abilities of the youth should be used to the maximum extent to make the masses love the sea and maritime environment. If this is accomplished, the awareness of the people who are conscious of the protection of the marine environment will be increased and a more "livable environment target" will be achieved.
The government needs to raise awareness of the people to the protection of the marine environment and encourage their participation in conservation activities through conscious, systematic and positive messages. Besides, the scientific community needs to pay attention to interdisciplinary science communication while communicating maritime policies and marine environmental protection strategies to the public. All scientific disciplines should use existing ideas and notions in a coordinated manner to develop methods of instilling environmental awareness in the public. While doing this it is thought that taking media and advertising areas into consideration will have a significant effect.
As a result, it has been understood that the maritime culture that the maritime states established patiently and for a long time in the historical process naturally created the maritime environmental awareness in the people of these countries. This effect is twofold: citizens of a country have a maritime culture and environmental awareness, helping that state gain a maritime character. The protection of the marine environment should be encouraged by making people adopt a maritime culture. It is necessary to provide training by using interdisciplinary communication channels to motivate individuals to act pro-environmentally by increasing public participation in activities in this direction. In this context, it is considered that incentive policies and strategies based on cooperation should be applied to a target audience, especially the 6-10 age groups.

Conservation of marine environment activities planning and coordination
Raising awareness on environmental pollution in the oceans and seas Raising awareness of over-fishing Raising awareness on destruction of habitats Raising awareness on climate change Raising awareness for usage of renewable energy sources Raising awareness on natural marine resources management