Libyan-Turkish maritime border agreement disregards Greece, Cyprus and Egypt's rights in the Mediterranean

Greece, Cyprus and Egypt have denounced an agreement between Turkey and Libya to delineate maritime boundaries between them, describing it as a serious breach of international law that disregards the lawful rights of other eastern Mediterranean countries.

The Turkey-Libya deal adds tension to the ongoing dispute with Greece, Cyprus and Egypt over gas and oil rights in the Mediterranean.

The governments of the two countries also signed a military and security cooperation on Wednesday.

In response, the Cypriot Foreign Ministry stated that the Memorandum of Understanding the two countries signed has no legal validity and can’t undermine the rights of Cyprus or other coastal states. Turkey's "distortion" of international law also demonstrates that Ankara is alone in its views.

A spokesman for the Greek Foreign Ministry, Alexandros Yennimatas also expressed that Turkey was not acting in a neighbourly manner. "The signing by Turkey and Libya of a memorandum of understanding cannot violate the sovereign rights of third countries. Such an action would be a flagrant violation of the International Law of the Sea and would produce no legal effect," he stated.

Furthermore, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry condemned the agreement expressing that "the two MoUs have no legal effect, they cannot be officially recognised in light of the Skhirat Agreement's Article 8, which stipulates that the Libyan government or the cabinet, not the prime minister, has the authority to sign international agreements."

Greece's Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis is planning to raise this issue at the NATO leaders summit in London next week.

Source: The New Arab