By The Libya Update,
Ankara is trying to “fabricate a reality around something that is illegal” and is “ignoring the international context,” Greek government spokesman Giannis Oikonomou said on Tuesday, a day after Turkey signed a preliminary agreement with Libya for oil and natural gas exploration on Libyan soil and in the country’s maritime exclusive economic zone (EEZ).
“This is not the first time that Turkey appears to be ignoring the international context and trying to create precedents. However, no matter however often it tries to fabricate a reality with fiction and lies, it does not mean that this reality will be accepted and embraced by others. In this case, Turkey is trying to fabricate a reality around something that is illegal, and this has been acknowledged, accepted and agreed by all the major international players and international organizations,” Oikonomou told Greek state broadcaster ERT.
“Our country will react as it has a right to under international law,” he said of the deal, which defines Libya’s EEZ as that agreed upon by Turkey and the Tripoli-based government in a highly contested memorandum signed in November 2019 and denounced by Greece and Egypt, the two countries standing between Libya and Turkey.
“Don’t forget that we have sovereign rights in the area. We have an EEZ [agreement] with Egypt. What Turkey is trying to do violates the sovereign rights of other countries too and it will certainly not be approved by the international community. It will not be allowed by our country, nor by our allies,” Oikonomou said.
Asked, meanwhile, whether Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis would meet with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on the sidelines of an informal European Union summit in Prague on Thursday, Oikonomou said that Athens would “consider” the possibility, if Ankara requested it.
“Mr Erdogan has verbally assaulted this country and the Greek government, even the prime minister himself, asking Greeks not to vote for him… So, if the Turkish side reconsiders and pursues some kind of discussion, the Greek side will consider it and will, in my opinion, give a positive answer,” he said.
“The Greek prime minister has never avoided or expressed his opposition to dialogue, to a discussion with very clear positions, very clear red lines,” he added.
Relations between Greece and Turkey are at their worst in years, with Turkey issuing thinly veiled threats to invade Greece’s Aegean Sea islands. Undersea gas and oil exploration rights are a key part of the dispute.
The European Union have sided with Greece in its long-running dispute with Turkey, declaring that the latter’s agreement with Libya is “against Law of the Sea and infringes on third states’ rights.”
EU: Libya-Turkey hydrocarbons deal potentially undermines regional stability
The European Union has that the newly signed hydrocarbons deal between Libya and Turkey could “potentially undermines regional stability”.
The deals, signed by Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Çavusoglu with the Tripoli-based Libyan government on Monday, allows for oil and gas exploration in Libya’s Mediterranean waters, three years after a maritime border deal that angered European nations.
“The European Union takes note of the reports indicating that Turkey and the Libyan Government of National Unity have signed an agreement on hydrocarbons based on the 2019 Turkey-Libya Memorandum of Understanding on delimitation of maritime jurisdiction areas in the Mediterranean,” said the EU spokesperson for external affairs, Peter Stano, in a statement on Monday.
He affirmed that hydrocarbons deal “requires further clarifications since it’s based on memorandum that goes against Law of the Sea and infringes on third states’ rights,” and added that “actions that could undermine regional stability should be avoided.”
Libya/Turkey:the reported agreement on hydrocarbons requires further clarifications since it’s based on ???? memorandum that goes against Law of the Sea & infringes on third states’ rights.Actions potentially undermining regional stability should B avoided https://t.co/16qLD3VTq3
— Peter Stano (@ExtSpoxEU) October 3, 2022
The deal sparked wide controversy and angered Libyan and international actors who deemed the agreement as “illegal”. Libya’s parliament have quickly rejected deal, declaring that the Tripoli-based transitional government, led by Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh, is unauthorized to broker long-term agreements with international parties since its mandate had expired.
Parliament Speaker Aguila Saleh called the deal “illegal and unacceptable”, while the Libyan rival government of former interior minister Fathi Bashagha threatened to use the courts to annul it.
Similarly, Greece, who have had a long-running dispute with Turkey over maritime territories, came out against the Libya-Turkey deal. Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias said he had spoken to his counterpart in Egypt, Sameh Shoukry, and that “both challenged the legitimacy” of the deal. Dendias said he would visit Cairo on Sunday for “consultations” on the issue.
