Libya Parliament Approves Maritime Deal With Turkey, Ignoring Greek Islands

Libya's parliament voted unanimously on Tuesday to ratify a maritime agreement with Turkey, formally establishing a direct economic corridor between the two nations. This legislative move reverses the stance of the eastern government and creates a new framework for joint exploitation of offshore resources. The decision is set to intensify geopolitical friction in the eastern Mediterranean, particularly by challenging the maritime boundaries asserted by Greece and its European allies.

The corridor physically links the southern coast of Turkey with the northern coast of Libya. Recent geological surveys have identified significant oil and gas deposits in this zone, with estimates suggesting that natural gas reserves could be worth hundreds of billions of US dollars. Ankara and Tripoli aim to secure their respective economic rights to these assets and develop them in a coordinated manner, thereby creating a substantial new energy market in the region.

The agreement directly ignores the presence of Greek islands such as Crete, Karpathos, and Rhodes. Athens maintains that it holds a comprehensive exclusive economic zone around these territories and has declared its opposition to the new arrangement. The Greek Foreign Ministry stated on social media that it firmly rejects the accord, noting that the European Union has labeled the memorandum null and void due to violations of the sovereign rights of third states and inconsistencies with the Law of the Sea.

Kaja Kallas, the EU's high representative for foreign affairs and security policy, echoed this sentiment. She confirmed that she had raised the issue of the Libyan vote and emphasized that the agreement infringes upon the sovereign rights of third states. The EU's position underscores the bloc's commitment to protecting the maritime interests of its member states in the face of competing regional claims.

At the core of the dispute is the legal interpretation of maritime boundaries. Greece relies on the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, specifically Article 121, which grants inhabited islands that support their own economic life the same exclusive economic zone rights as mainland territory. Athens argues this covers key islands and cites a 2022 International Court of Justice ruling involving Colombia and Nicaragua, which emphasized fair demarcation based on coastlines and geography.

Turkey, which has not signed the convention, argues that the unique geography of the Mediterranean requires a different approach. Ankara contends that granting full economic zones to every small Greek island near its coasts would effectively cut Turkey off from the open sea. Because Turkey does not accept arbitration by a UN tribunal, the two sides remain at an impasse over what constitutes a fair division of the maritime space, a point on which even legal experts are divided.

The political landscape in Libya has shifted significantly since 2019. Following a period of civil war, Turkey intervened militarily to support the western government and has since pursued a diplomatic rapprochement with the eastern camp led by General Khalifa Hifter. Turkish firms have secured billions in reconstruction contracts, and the state oil company TPAO is conducting seismic surveys off the coast in partnership with Libya's National Oil Corporation. This deepening partnership has also allowed Turkey to supply weapons and training to eastern forces, countering the influence of Egypt and Russia.

The new corridor poses a direct threat to the planned EastMed pipeline, which was designed to transport gas from Israel and Cyprus through Greece to enhance EU energy security. The corridor cuts across the planned route of this infrastructure project. Turkey has previously argued that any pipeline or cable on its claimed continental shelf requires its consent. In the long term, the region risks splitting into two distinct blocs: a Turkey-Libya axis and an EU-supported grouping comprising Greece, Cyprus, Egypt, and Israel.