Germany slaps down Erdogan’s agreement infringing on Greece and Cyprus sovereignty

The German Parliament’s legal committee has deemed the controversial agreement on maritime borders signed between Turkey and Libya’s UN-backed government in November as invalid, adding its voice to a host of European nations who have also condemned it.

Earlier this month Libya’s eastern-based parliament also voted to reject the same agreement signed between Turkey and the country’s internationally-recognised government.

Germany concluded on the same point as Greece, namely that the Turkey-Libyan memorandum violates customary law by denying Greece’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) southeast of the Island of Crete Island and by claiming a Turkish EEZ that stretches over an area until the coasts of Crete and Rhodes.

“Turkey has been difficult to deal with. There’s a constant state of provocation, which leads Turkey nowhere,” said Greece’s Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis during a media interview on the on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos on Thursday.

The constant provocations by Turkey is a point not gone amiss to many. Alexander Clarkson, lecturer on German and European Studies at King’s College London, describes Turkey’s manoeuvring with Libya and its provocations against Greece and Cyprus as a form of anti-diplomacy.

“The Greeks can sit there and block everything Turkey needs from the EU and slow down processes and make sure things get more and more uncomfortable,” said Clarkson. “The MoU looks great; it looks like Turkey’s being forceful. But I struggle to see how this doesn’t land Turkey in a hole the next time it needs help from the Europeans.”

A.C.