US state dept criticises Turkey-Libya maritime deal as ‘provocative’

The United States’ state department has criticised the maritime boundary agreement reached between Turkey and Libya, which was ratified by the Libyan parliament last week, as “unconstructive and provocative”. According to Greek newspaper Kathimerini, the state department said that the announcement of the deal’s ratification has “increased tensions in the region”, and stressed that “our opinion on this issue has not changed”. “We encourage all countries, including our partners in the eastern Mediterranean, to resolve their differences regarding maritime zones through negotiations in good faith and to avoid any provocative behaviour,” it said. The maritime agreement was unanimously passed by Libya’s parliament on Tuesday last week, some seven years after it had initially been signed by the internationally recognised Libyan government and Turkey in 2019. Related Articles • Cyprus ‘ready’ to delimit EEZ with Greece • Kallas tells Fidan that Turkey-Libya maritime deal infringes on rights of third states • Reactions pour in over Turkey-Libya maritime deal • Costa, von der Leyen offer ‘solidarity’ to Greece, Cyprus after Turkey-Libya sea deal • Cyprus declares Turkey-Libya maritime agreement illegal It saw Turkey and Libya define where the two countries’ exclusive economic zones (EEZ) border one another in the eastern Mediterranean, with that border, according to the agreement, falling between two points southeast of the Greek island of Crete. However, Greece and the Republic of Cyprus object to the deal, saying that Turkey and Libya do not share a maritime border because islands are each entitled to a full EEZ, and that therefore, the sea in question belongs to Cyprus and Crete. Turkey’s position is that islands are not entitled to a full EEZ. Kallas said deal ‘infringes upon rights of third states’ Last week, the European Union’s foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas had told Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan that the deal “infringes upon the sovereign rights of third states”, while European Council President Antonio Costa and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen had said that they “deeply regret” the Libyan parliament’s ratification of the deal. “We reaffirm our solidarity with Greece and Cyprus. We reiterate the EU’s well-known position against any outside interference in Libya,” they said. On the other side of the argument, Turkey’s presidential press office director Burhanettin Duran described Tuesday’s vote as “an important advancement towards protecting the shared rights and interests of both nations in the eastern Mediterranean, establishing maritime jurisdiction areas on the basis of equity, and strengthening regional cooperation”. “Under the leadership of our President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey will continue to safeguard its rights and interests within the Blue Homeland, while further developing its relations with friendly and brotherly Libya and promoting equitable resource sharing, peace, and stability in the eastern Mediterranean”.