Tripoli explains the circumstances of its maritime agreement with Ankara and the Turkish parliament ratifies it

The Eastern Mediterranean Accord with Ankara is the fruit of negotiations that began in 2007, boosted by Greece's intransigence in demarcating its maritime borders, the government of national reconciliation in Libya said at a time when the Turkish parliament ratified the maritime influence agreement, which Egypt, Greece and Cyprus objected.

In a memorandum issued today, the Libyan Ministry of Foreign Affairs explained that the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Turkey at the end of last month was preceded by negotiations that started in 2007 and stopped in 2014 as a result of the circumstances experienced by Libya after the overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi regime, to resume in June. 2018.

On November 27, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan signed two memorandums of understanding with Fayez al-Sarraj, head of the presidential council of the internationally recognized Libyan National Accord government.

The memorandums relate to security and military cooperation between Ankara and Tripoli, and the definition of areas of maritime jurisdiction in order to protect the rights of the two countries stemming from international law.

Triple rejection
Greece, Egypt and Cyprus have refused to recognize the Turkish-Libyan naval agreement as legally worthless, and Athens has threatened to expel the Libyan ambassador by Friday if the Greek authorities do not hand over a copy of the agreement.

The Libyan Foreign Ministry said that further negotiations with Greece to demarcate the maritime borders began in 2004 and stopped in 2010, but did not produce a result because of what Tripoli called "clinging Athens to small islands have no legal consideration."

The Foreign Ministry noted in its note that Libya has not defined its maritime borders with Egypt or Italy, and that there are common maritime areas with Malta, Tunisia and Italy need to be determined.

Libyan Foreign Minister Mohammed al-Taher Sayyala told his counterparts in Jordan, Oman and Mauritania and the Kuwaiti deputy foreign minister about the details of the memorandums of understanding signed by Libya and Turkey, stressing that they do not affect any interests or sovereignty of any other country.

Al-Jazeera correspondent in Tripoli, Ahmed Khalifa, said that the Wefaq government is making media efforts to publicize the memorandum of understanding with Turkey and the history of negotiations to demarcate the maritime border between Libya and Turkey.

Resilience of the Convention
On the Turkish side, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that the agreement with Libya will achieve its goal as long as the legitimate government in Tripoli withstood.

Erdogan said some countries were alarmed by the Turkish-Libyan agreement, referring to Greece, Egypt, Cyprus and Israel, which he said were inciting the EU to the deal.

Al-Jazeera correspondent in Ankara, Mu'taz Bellah Hassan, said that the next step after the ratification by the Turkish parliament is the ratification of his Libyan counterpart, before the Turkish and Libyan parties inform the United Nations of this agreement to be officially registered with the international community.

He added that Turkish officials describe the agreement on the delimitation of maritime zones of influence with Libya as very important because it blocks the way for those who wanted to impose a fait accompli on the interests of Libya and Turkey, referring to the understandings between Greece, Egypt and Cyprus on the demarcation of borders and gas exploration in the Eastern Mediterranean.