Libya and Turkey sign hydrocarbon exploration agreement
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu alongside his Libyan counterpart Najla al-Mangoush during a press briefing in Tripoli on October 3, 2022. AFP - MAHMUD TURKIA
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Libya and Turkey signed an agreement on prospecting for hydrocarbons in Libyan waters on Monday (October 3rd), three years after concluding a controversial maritime delimitation agreement which had aroused the ire of the European Union.
A senior Turkish delegation made up of several ministers made an official visit to Tripoli on Monday.
Ankara's ambitions for oil and gas exploration are confirmed.
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According to the new memorandum of understanding between the two countries, mixed Turkish-Libyan companies will work on prospecting for hydrocarbons in territorial waters as well as on Libyan soil.
Statement made by the head of Turkish diplomacy Mevlut Cavusoglu, during a joint press briefing with his Libyan counterpart Najla al-Mangoush on Monday, where he defended the agreement.
For the Turkish Foreign Minister, the memorandum is based on the principle of win-win, signed between two sovereign countries and for their common interest: "
The other countries have no right to interfere in these affairs
", he concluded.
This new agreement follows that of the maritime delimitation of 2019 which was contested by the power of eastern Libya, by Greece and by the European Union.
It allowed Ankara, which aims to be the largest regional investor in Libya, to assert rights over vast areas in the eastern Mediterranean.
On Monday, the Libyan Parliament again protested against the recent memorandum.
The signature of an illegal government is refused, invalid and does not bind the Libyan state, said the head of parliament Aguila Saleh.
The Turkish official also encouraged the use of the local currency of the two countries for their trade.
Exchanges which should reach 4 billion dollars per year, according to Ankara.
#Libya ziyaretimiz
Visit to Libya
🇹🇷🇱🇾 pic.twitter.com/oBFdI7TTqS
— Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu (@MevlutCavusoglu) October 3, 2022
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