Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced yesterday that his country will increase military support for the Libyan government of Tripoli headed by Faiz al-Sarraj, if necessary, and will study air, land and sea options, while the Libyan National Army led by Field Marshal Khalifa Hifter announced that his forces detained a ship flying the Grenada flag It is led by a Turkish crew off the coast of Libya, while Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dundas visited Benghazi and Cairo, amid growing tension between his country and Turkey.
Erdogan said on an occasion in the Kocaeli region in the north of the country, that Turkey will never back down from the agreements that were concluded with the Al-Sarraj government in Tripoli, and in the same context, Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said yesterday that Turkey will stand by the Al-Sarraj government, after The two countries signed a military cooperation agreement last month.
Erdogan and his defense minister made statements about the support of the Saraj government, the day after the Turkish parliament approved the Memorandum of Understanding on Security and Military Cooperation with Libya, which Washington considered "a provocative memorandum and a matter of concern to the United States."
It is noteworthy that the Al-Sarraj government in Libya signed with Turkey last month two memoranda of understanding on security cooperation and the demarcation of maritime borders, and Egypt, Greece, Cyprus and the Libyan Parliament elected - expressed their rejection of the two notes, and leaders of European Union countries expressed their concern about the memorandum of understanding on The delineation of maritime borders in the Mediterranean Sea, as a violation of the sovereign rights of another country, and is not consistent with maritime law, and this memorandum cannot have any legal effects on the country whose memo violated their sovereign rights.
In addition, the Libyan National Army, led by Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar, announced that its forces had seized a ship flying the Grenada flag and being led by a Turkish crew off the coast of Libya, and the Libyan army spokesman, Major General Ahmed Al-Mismari, told «Reuters» that a Libyan army boat stopped the ship in the water Libyan territoriality off the city of Derna, and Qatar to the port of Ras Al-Hilal «for inspection and to verify its cargo», and the spokesman did not provide further details.
The Libyan National Army submitted a video to Reuters showing a Libyan naval force stopping the ship and interrogating three of its crew. The army also published copies of the passports of the three Turkish citizens.
No details have yet been released on the ship's cargo, and a report by United Nations experts seen by Reuters last month said that Ankara had sent military supplies to Libya in violation of the UN arms embargo.
The Libyan army, led by Haftar, had previously warned that it would detain any Turkish ship passing through Libyan waters, in response to the memorandum of understanding between Turkey and the Saraj government.
To that, Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dundas arrived in the city of Benghazi in eastern Libya yesterday, and the Libyan Satellite Channel reported that the head of the interim government in eastern Libya Abdullah Al-Thani received the Greek minister, and sources said that the meeting dealt with the controversial agreement to demarcate the maritime borders Between Turkey and the Saraj government, which allows Ankara to expand its sea borders in the eastern Mediterranean region where energy fields have been discovered in recent years.
In a related context, Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry and his Greek counterpart Nikos Dundias yesterday discussed developments in Libya, and the two ministers held in Cairo Airport a round of talks to review the file of cooperation relations between Egypt and Greece, along with a review of the latest developments on the Libyan crisis and the Turkish-Libyan agreement on the demarcation of maritime borders And developments in the eastern Mediterranean.
Greece strongly opposes the Memorandum of Understanding between Turkey and the Saraj government, related to the demarcation of borders in the Mediterranean, and Greece confirms that the memorandum was prepared in bad faith because the maritime areas of Turkey and Libya are not contiguous and there are no common maritime borders between the two countries, and stresses that it does not take into account the Greek islands (In the Mediterranean) and its right to have marine areas. Greece had previously called on the United Nations on December 10 to condemn the agreement, which it said violates regional peace and stability.
- Greek Foreign Minister visits Benghazi and Cairo to discuss the agreement to demarcate the sea border.