Turkey rejects criticism of Libya maritime deal
Ankara, Turkey - Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday rejected criticism of a maritime boundary deal with Libya that allows Ankara to claim rights over vast areas coveted by other countries including Greece.
Details of the agreement, signed in Istanbul on November 27 with the head of the Tripolibased Government of National Accord (GNA) Prime Minister Fayed al Sarraj, have yet to be released.
But media reports suggest it could extend Turkey’s continental shelf by around a third, allowing it to lay claim to recently-discovered oil and gas reserves in the eastern Mediterranean.
That would cut across claims by Greece, Cyprus and Egypt.
“This step is a sovereign right of Libya and Turkey,” Erdogan said. “We will not debate this sovereign right with you. We will tell them this openly,” Erdogan said.
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said on Sunday that he would seek support from NATO at the alliance summit in London, also being attended by Erdogan.
Greece’s Foreign Minister threatened to expel the Libyan ambassador to Athens unless provided with details of a military deal that Tripoli signed with Ankara last week.
Greece wants to see the agreement by Friday ‘or (the ambassador) will be declared persona non grata and will leave’, Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias told Skai TV.
“Not only do we not know the contents (of the deal) but they are being carefully concealed from us,” Dendias said, adding that Athens felt ‘deceived’ after being told by Tripoli that no such deal would be signed.
Turkish media said Ankara would provide the UN with the coordinates of its new ‘exclusive economic zone’ in the eastern Mediterranean once the relevant law has been passed by its parliament.