Libya’s eastern-based parliament has backed a 2019 maritime deal with Turkiye already signed by the North African nation’s internationally recognised government based in Tripoli to delimit maritime boundaries in the Mediterranean Sea. The vote on Tuesday came as Turkiye has been cultivating close ties in recent years with the eastern parliament, backed by renegade military commander Khalifa Haftar. Ankara had helped the Tripoli government, known as the Government of National Accord (GNA), push back an offensive in 2020 by Haftar’s self-styled Libyan National Army (LNA) that aimed to capture Tripoli.
Egypt and the European Union have rejected the ratification of the maritime borders agreement, calling the deal “null and void”. On Tuesday, the Tobruk-based House of Representatives voted unanimously to approve the agreement, reversing its 2020 rejection. Israel also condemned the move while Greece, which said the agreement violates international law, briefed the United Nations Security Council.
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan dismissed the criticism, calling the deal “entirely legitimate”. So what is the deal, and why has it drawn such a backlash? Here’s what you need to know: It is a memorandum of understanding that draws a sea border between Turkiye and Libya across the eastern Mediterranean.
It was signed in Istanbul on November 27, 2019, by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Fayez al-Sarraj, then-prime minister of the UN-recognised government in Tripoli. Within weeks, Turkiye sent drones and military advisers to help repel Haftar’s assault on Tripoli. The deal allowed Ankara to claim large and potentially gas-rich areas of the eastern Mediterranean.
Because Cairo says it cuts into Egyptian waters. Egypt’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the agreement “constitutes a clear infringement upon Egypt’s sovereign rights within its exclusive economic zone and continental shelf”. It said the ratification “carries no legal consequences for Egypt”.
President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi has historically been one of Haftar’s strongest backers, but experts said their relations have cooled because Haftar allowed his territory to be used to funnel support to the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary group, which is fighting Sudan’s military, the news agency reported. Cairo is also now a close security ally of Ankara, and in July, Egypt refrained from objecting to a maritime line drawn between Benghazi and Turkiye. According to exclusive information Al Jazeera received in July, the rapprochement between Ankara and Haftar’s general command included agreements on developing military facilities and advanced surveillance systems.
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