Libyan Parliament Ratifies Sea Deal With Turkey

Libya’s parliament voted unanimously on Tuesday to approve a maritime agreement with Turkey. The measure creates a direct economic corridor linking the southern coast of Turkey with the northern coast of Libya. This move places the two nations in direct conflict with Greece over control of the eastern Mediterranean.

The political landscape in Libya has shifted since the deal was first struck in 2019. At that time, Turkey agreed to the corridor with the UN-recognized Government of National Accord in the west. The rival government in the east opposed the arrangement then. The eastern parliament has now reversed its position, effectively unifying the country’s maritime stance with Ankara.

The new corridor sits above seabed deposits of oil and gas. Recent discoveries in the area suggest natural gas reserves worth several hundred billion US dollars could lie beneath the surface. Ankara and Tripoli aim to secure their economic rights to these resources and develop them jointly.

Greece immediately objected to the ratification. Athens claims a comprehensive exclusive economic zone, or EEZ, around its islands, including Crete, Karpathos, and Rhodes. The planned corridor ignores these islands. Greece’s Foreign Ministry stated on X that it firmly rejects the accord 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 is inconsistent with the Law of the Sea.

Kaja Kallas, the EU’s high representative for foreign affairs and security policy, echoed this sentiment. She wrote on X that she had raised the Libyan vote and stressed that it infringes upon the sovereign rights of third states.

The core of the dispute lies in competing interpretations of international law. Greece relies on the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. Article 121 of that convention grants inhabited islands that support their own economic life the same EEZ rights as mainland territory. Athens argues this covers Crete, Rhodes, and Lesbos. It also points to a 2022 International Court of Justice ruling involving Colombia and Nicaragua, which held that overlapping interests require a fair demarcation weighing coastlines and geography.

Turkey contends that Mediterranean geography deserves special weight. Ankara argues that if every small Greek island near the Turkish and Cypriot coasts received a full EEZ, Turkey would be largely cut off from the open sea. Turkey never signed the convention and does not accept arbitration by a UN tribunal. Legal experts disagree on what a fair division would look like in this specific context.

The relationship between the two countries has deepened since 2019, when civil war was raging in Libya. Turkey intervened militarily to support the Tripoli government and repel an offensive by eastern General Khalifa Hifter. A Turkish charm offensive has since brought a rapprochement with Hifter’s camp. Turkish firms have won reconstruction contracts worth billions of dollars. Turkey’s state oil company TPAO is working with Libya’s National Oil Corporation on plans for seismic surveys off the coast. Turkey also supplies weapons and training to Hifter’s forces, pushing back against Egyptian and Russian influence in the east.

The agreement also threatens the planned EastMed pipeline. That project is meant to carry gas from Israel and Cyprus through Greece to bolster EU energy security. The new corridor cuts across the pipeline's route. Turkey has argued that cable or pipeline projects on its claimed continental shelf need its consent.

The next step involves continued diplomatic friction as the EU and Greece prepare their legal and political responses to the ratified treaty.