Tripoli/Ankara – After the maritime border demarcation agreement between Libya and Turkey remained suspended for nearly 6 years, today this file, which Greece considers an infringement on its maritime scale, is reopened, amid European moves to curb any Libyan step towards the legal confirmation of the agreement.
A member of the Libyan Parliament, Abdel Moneim El -Arfi, confirmed to Al -Jazeera Net that Parliament is heading to ratify the agreement in the nearest session, indicating that one of the most prominent points to amend is a clause that gives Turkey the right to prior approval before Libya contracts with major international companies.
It is noteworthy that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and former Libyan Prime Minister Fayez al -Sarraj signed, on November 27, 2019, in Istanbul, a memorandum of understanding on defining the areas of maritime authority, with the aim of protecting the rights of the two countries stemming from international law.
According to the memo, “Türkiye and the Libyan government decided to work on identifying maritime fields in the Mediterranean in a fair and fair manner, in which they exercise all sovereignty rights, taking into account all related conditions.”
European pressure
For her part, the Libyan parliamentary deputy, Rabia Bouras, indicated European pressure exerted clearly to discourage the council from proceeding to approval, confirming to Al -Jazeera Net that the technical committee still declines the texts of the agreement, and works to prepare an executive protocol in coordination with the Egyptian and Turkish sides.
In an interview with Al -Jazeera Net, a member of the House of Representatives, Saleh Tuhaima, attributed the reasons for European rejection to political and economic considerations of specific countries that cannot be separated from the geopolitical scene in the eastern Mediterranean.
As for MP Ali Al -Sol, he told Al -Jazeera Net that Parliament will pass the agreement as it served the Libyan national interest first, and takes into account regional interests without being subject to the Libyan decision to any imposed balance or international pressure.
In turn, the researcher in international relations and a specialist in the comparative foreign policies, Ahmed Al -Aboud, referred to Libya – before 2011 – eight negotiating rounds with Greece, and more than 11 rounds with Turkey without reaching an agreement, upon a diplomatic estimate that he considered that signing any understanding at that time does not serve the national interest.
He added to Al -Jazeera Net that the House of Representatives had rejected the two memoranda of understanding signed between the Al -Wefaq government and Turkey in 2019, but he now believes that the border demarcation notes give Libya and Egypt a broader extension in its pure economic areas, based on the principle of the law of the high seas, which is the basis for the demarcation, despite the failure to sign Ankara on it.
According to Al -Aboud, negotiations with Greece are not in the interest of Libya, due to its dependence on the islands as a legal reference in the demarcation, which may cut large parts of Libyan waters in its favor.
He warned that the approval of the agreement may open the door to strategic obligations, especially if the actual exploration of gas and oil begins, saying that Ankara is able to protect its economic interests, “while Libya is restricted by the armament ban and weak defensive structure.”
The focus of disagreement
In turn, Representative Tafhaima explained that the agreement was and still is the focus of disagreement between the governments of Tripoli and Benghazi, which reflected negatively on Libya’s position in front of various international issues, and in the event that Parliament rejects the agreement, the polarization state will end and the unified compatibility path regarding foreign policy issues will be re -drawn.
In the opinion of the academic researcher in strategic and political studies, Mohamed Matterid, the 2019 agreement came in the context of stabilizing the influence of the National Accord government in Tripoli, but the regional equations and growing rapprochement between Ankara and East Libya’s authorities changed the parliament closer to approval in view of the strategic and economic gains of the agreement for the Libyan state.
It is likely to Al -Jazeera Net that Parliament may pass it if the Turkish side insists on the current form without the required amendments.
For his part, the professor of international relations, Masoud Al -Salami, confirmed to Al -Jazeera Net, that the parliament’s direction towards the approval of the agreement is due to 3 factors:
- Protecting Libyan marine wealth from Greek expansion.
- Turkish rapprochement with the east of the country, which strengthened the climate of confidence and re -prioritized.
- Turkish-Egyptian understanding that reduced Cairo reservations.
For its part, Ankara rushed to confirm its adherence to the agreement and its rejection of European criticism, after the European Union renewed, at the end of its summit that was held in Brussels last weekend, his refusal to him, stressing that it was “a violation of the sovereign rights of Greece and Cyprus and is not compatible with the Law of the Seas.”
The Turkish Foreign Ministry stated that the memorandum of understanding signed between Erdogan and Al -Sarraj is fully compatible with international law, stressing that Ankara will not allow the violation of its legitimate rights and interests.
Foreign Ministry spokesman, UNGO Ketchali, said in an official statement that the results that were adopted at the last European summit reflect the continuation of Greece and the Greek Cyprus administration in their attempts to impose “extremist and violating international law and the principle of justice, on the European Union.”
Political position
Ketcholi described the European position as biased and with political motives, considering that raising a sensitive issue of legal and technical dimensions such as demarcating the maritime borders in this context does not serve regional peace and stability.
“The union should invite all its members to adhere to international law instead of adopting baseless allegations of legal health,” the statement added, stressing that Türkiye will continue to defend firmly on its rights in the eastern Mediterranean within the framework of international law.
The Turkish and Libyan sides expanded the first note on October 3, 2022, by signing a new memorandum of understanding that grants Ankara additional rights to explore for oil and natural gas in Libyan territorial waters and inside the Libyan territories. The move sparked severe objections by Greece, which described the two notes as “invalid”.
Türkiye began translating its maritime agreement with Libya into practical steps. On June 25, the Turkish Oil Company signed a memorandum of understanding with the National Oil Corporation in Libya to conduct common seismic surveys within the marine areas covered by the agreement.
These developments angered Athens and the European Union, but Ankara met these pressures by intensifying its diplomatic moves with Libya. On the day after the European summit, Turkish Energy Minister Alp Arslan Bayrakdar received his Libyan counterpart in Istanbul, where they discussed the opportunities for cooperation in exploring oil and gas.
“The two countries’ ability to benefit from their experiences through tangible cooperation is mutual,” Bayrakdar stressed, referring to Ankara and Tripoli ahead with joint excavation projects.
Political analyst Omar Afshar believes that the possible approval of the Libyan parliament represents a major strategic gain for Ankara, as it will give the agreement a political and legal weight inside Libya and at the international level, and helps to thwart what Turkey considers attempts to isolate it from energy equations in the eastern Mediterranean.
He told Al -Jazeera Net that this step may be used as a diplomatic pressure card against European positions. But he warned that development may lead to an escalation of tensions with the European Union. He stressed that Ankara will seek to invest this gain with the management of its repercussions to avoid an open confrontation in the eastern Mediterranean.