Libya's parliament votes for new sea zone deal with Turkey
A unanimous vote in Tripoli creates a direct economic link with Ankara, a move that Greece and the European Union say ignores their sovereign rights in the eastern Mediterranean.
By Jason Kovalenko ·
Libya's parliament voted unanimously on Tuesday to approve a maritime agreement with Turkey. The decision establishes a direct economic corridor between the two nations and immediately deepens a longstanding dispute with Greece over control of the eastern Mediterranean waters.
The vote marks a significant shift in Libyan politics. In 2019, the eastern government opposed a similar deal signed by the UN-recognized government in the west. That earlier agreement was signed during the height of the civil war. Today, the eastern parliament has reversed its previous stance, and Turkey's foreign ministry welcomed the new vote as a major step forward.
The corridor stretches from Turkey's southern coast to Libya's northern coast. Recent surveys have identified large deposits of oil and gas in this area. Estimates suggest that natural gas reserves worth hundreds of billions of US dollars may lie beneath the seabed. Both Ankara and Tripoli aim to secure their rights to these resources and develop them together.
Greece has firmly rejected the accord. The agreement effectively ignores Greek islands such as Crete, Rhodes, and Karpathos. Athens argues that it holds an exclusive economic zone around these territories. The Greek foreign ministry stated on X that it rejects the deal with the backing of the European Union. The EU called the memorandum null and void because it violates the sovereign rights of third states and does not align with the law of the sea.
Kaja Kallas, the EU high representative for foreign affairs, echoed this sentiment. She wrote on X that she raised the issue of the Libyan vote and stressed that the deal infringes upon the sovereign rights of third states. The EU position highlights the legal and diplomatic friction that now exists between the bloc and the two new partners.
The core of the dispute lies in competing legal arguments. Greece relies on the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. Article 121 of that convention grants inhabited islands the same economic rights as mainland territory. Athens points to a 2022 ruling by the International Court of Justice involving Colombia and Nicaragua. That case established that overlapping interests require a fair division based on coastlines and geography.
Turkey argues that the specific geography of the Mediterranean must receive special weight. Ankara claims that if every small Greek island received a full economic zone, Turkey would be cut off from the open sea. Turkey has never signed the convention and does not accept arbitration by a UN tribunal. Even legal experts disagree on what a fair division of these waters would look like.
The political landscape in Libya has changed since 2019. Turkey previously intervened militarily to support the government in Tripoli against an offensive by General Khalifa Hifter. Since then, Turkey has built a relationship with Hifter's camp. Turkish firms have won billions of dollars in reconstruction contracts. The state oil company TPAO is now working with Libya's national oil corporation on seismic surveys. Turkey also supplies weapons and training to eastern forces, which helps counter Egyptian and Russian influence in the region.
The new corridor also poses a threat to the planned EastMed pipeline. This project was designed to carry gas from Israel and Cyprus through Greece to support European energy security. The new Turkish Libyan route cuts across the planned pipeline path. Turkey has argued that it needs to consent to any cable or pipeline projects on its claimed continental shelf. In the long term, the region could split into two distinct blocs: a Turkey-Libya axis and a grouping of Greece, Cyprus, Egypt, and Israel backed by the EU.
