Turkey Agreement With Libya

any action taken by Turkey could increase tensions in Libya, where pro-government troops have been involved for months in clashes with General Haftar`s troops; “United ministers have registered the agreement on maritime justice between Turkey and Libya,” the ministry said on its Twitter account. “Our deep relationship with Libya, based on more than 500 years of history, will continue to strengthen.” “If Turkey can sign formal agreements with the internationally recognized government, it will be able to guarantee a share of Libyan oil,” he said. Greece recognizes its territories within the area between the region of Crete and the island of Meyisti as a single coast. On the other hand, Turkey argues that it is mainly the continental shelves and the borders of the EEZs that must be defined between Libya, Egypt and Turkey. The right of South Cyprus to continental status in the Mediterranean and the agreements based on that acceptance are not valid under international law. Even under the Vienna Convention on Treaty Law, southern Cyprus cannot ignore the equal rights of northern Cyprus and unilaterally take decisions on behalf of the Turkish people living on the island. Turkey and the TRNC disputed the agreements and indicated that the Cyprus-Egypt agreement violated Turkey`s continental borders, that southern Cyprus seriously violated the equality rights of the TRNC, and that these violations were contrary to the principle of fair distribution. This is because coastal geography and structure play a very important role in delimiting marine areas. It is the deciding factor in most years, and it is based on two fundamental principles; “The master of the country`s domination over the sea” and “the coastal state must establish this domination on its coasts.” This fundamental principle has been put forward in all related judicial decisions (Malta-Libya case, continental shutdown case in the Aegean Sea, case of Guinea-Bissau). For Libya, the motivation is above all security. The agreement was reached with Fayez al-Serraj, the head of the Tripoli government, who, under the leadership of General Khalifa Haftar, is in conflict with a rival military power in eastern Libya.

Turkey has promised to provide military and other aid to Serraj. The Parliament of Eastern Libya, allied with Haftar, rejected the maritime agreement. Turkey has increased military aid to Libya`s allies, but the accompanying maritime agreement has fuelled geopolitics in the Mediterranean. Greece and Egypt were among those who raised strong objections. Eaton said that if Turkey had already responded to requests from outside actors to reduce arms deliveries to both sides in order to improve the chances of dialogue, the GNA might feel short-circuited. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that new relations with Libya “would allow Turkey, with the Tripoli agreement, to legally drill on the Libyan continental shelf… With this new agreement between Turkey and Libya, we will be able to conduct joint exploration operations in these exclusive economic zones that we have defined. There is no problem. In August 2020, Egypt and Greece signed an agreement that designated an exclusive economic zone between the two countries. The announcement was made at a joint press conference with the foreign ministers of the two countries, during which inter in allia stated that the agreement provided for a partial delimitation of maritime borders between the two countries and that the remaining delimitation would be achieved through consultations.

[19] The parliaments of both countries quickly ratified the agreement and in October 2020, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi signed the agreement, which was later published in the country`s Official Journal. [20] Turkey dismissed the agreement between Greece and Egypt as “null and void,” adding that Greece and Egypt had no common maritime border. [21] The internationally recognized Tripoli government confirmed the new agreements, but did not give details.