Eastern Libya: Parliament Ratifies $100 Billion Sea Deal
A unanimous vote by the eastern government creates a direct maritime link to Turkey, directly conflicting with Greek exclusive economic zone claims.
By Ama Boateng ·
Natural gas reserves worth several hundred billion US dollars lie beneath the seabed in the eastern Mediterranean. Libya’s eastern parliament unanimously ratified a maritime agreement with Turkey on Tuesday to secure access to those deposits. The move reverses a previous position taken by the same government in 2019.
The new corridor links Turkey’s southern coast with Libya’s northern coast. Ankara and Tripoli intend to exploit the resources jointly. Turkey’s Foreign Ministry welcomed the vote, noting that the agreement creates a direct economic corridor between the two nations. This decision sharpens tensions with Greece, which had opposed the initial 2019 pact signed by the western government in Tripoli.
Greece maintains that its islands, including Crete, Karpathos, and Rhodes, possess comprehensive exclusive economic zones. Athens announced 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 conflicts with the Law of the Sea. Kaja Kallas, the EU’s high representative for foreign affairs and security policy, stated on X that the Libyan vote infringes upon the sovereign rights of third states.
The legal dispute centers on the interpretation of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. Greece relies on Article 121, which grants inhabited islands that support an economic life of their own the same zone rights as mainland territory. Athens points to a 2022 International Court of Justice ruling between Colombia and Nicaragua, which required fair demarcation of overlapping interests. Turkey argues that Mediterranean geography requires special consideration. If every small Greek island received a full economic zone, Turkey would be largely cut off from the open sea. Ankara never signed the convention and does not accept arbitration by a UN tribunal.
Political shifts in Libya have driven the current rapprochement. Since 2019, when Turkey intervened militarily to support the government in Tripoli against General Khalifa Hifter’s forces, relations with the east have improved. Turkish firms won contracts worth billions for reconstruction. The Turkish state oil company TPAO is conducting seismic surveys with Libya’s National Oil Corporation. Turkey also supplies weapons and training to Hifter’s forces, countering Egyptian and Russian influence.
The new corridor threatens the planned EastMed pipeline, which is meant to carry gas from Israel and Cyprus through Greece to the EU. The pipeline route crosses the newly claimed maritime zone. Turkey has argued that it must consent to cable or pipeline projects on its claimed continental shelf. The agreement may split the region into two blocs: a Turkey-Libya axis and an EU-supported grouping of Greece, Cyprus, Egypt, and Israel.
Source: Deutsche Welle
