Eastern Parliament Ratifies Turkey-Libya Sea Boundary Pact

Households and businesses in the eastern Mediterranean face a more complex regulatory landscape following a unanimous parliamentary vote in Libya on Tuesday. The decision formalizes a maritime corridor with Turkey, establishing a direct economic channel between the two countries. This move is poised to intensify existing diplomatic friction, particularly with Greece, which views the arrangement as an encroachment on its established territory.

The current legislative step marks a significant reversal for the eastern government. In 2019, the rival administration in the west, recognized by the United Nations, first negotiated this corridor. At that time, the eastern leadership opposed the deal. Now, the parliament in the east has voted in favor of the agreement, a shift welcomed by Turkey’s Foreign Ministry.

The physical scope of the corridor stretches from Turkey’s southern coastline to Libya’s northern shores. Recent geological surveys have identified substantial oil and gas deposits in this zone. Analysts estimate that the seabed may hold natural gas reserves valued at hundreds of billions of US dollars. Both Ankara and Tripoli aim to secure their economic interests in these resources and develop them jointly.

The planned boundaries bypass several major Greek islands, including Crete, Rhodes, and Karpathos. Athens maintains that it possesses a comprehensive exclusive economic zone surrounding these landmasses. The Greek Foreign Ministry announced its firm opposition, citing support from the European Union. Brussels has described the new memorandum as null and void, arguing it violates the sovereign rights of third states and contradicts the Law of the Sea.

Kaja Kallas, the EU’s high representative for foreign affairs and security policy, echoed these sentiments. She stated that she had addressed the Libyan vote and emphasized that the agreement infringes upon the sovereign rights of third states. Her comments underscore the bloc’s unified stance against the new arrangement.

The core of the dispute centers on the legitimacy of competing claims. Greece bases its position primarily on the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. Article 121 of the convention grants inhabited islands that support their own economic life the same exclusive economic zone rights as mainland territory. Athens argues this provision covers Crete, Rhodes, and Lesbos. The country also points to a 2022 ruling by the International Court of Justice in a case between Colombia and Nicaragua, which established that overlapping interests require a fair demarcation based on coastlines, geography, and the impact of any boundary.

Turkey presents a different geographic argument. Ankara contends that the specific layout of the Mediterranean deserves special consideration. It argues that if every small Greek island near the Turkish and Cypriot coasts received a full exclusive economic zone, Turkey would be largely cut off from the open sea. Since Ankara never signed the convention, it does not accept arbitration by a UN tribunal. Even legal experts remain divided on what constitutes a fair division in this specific context.

Libyan politics have evolved significantly since the 2019 civil war. At that time, Turkey intervened militarily to support the government in Tripoli and counter an offensive by eastern General Khalifa Hifter. A subsequent diplomatic effort has brought the two Libyan factions closer to a rapprochement. Turkish firms have secured billions of dollars in reconstruction contracts. The state oil company TPAO is collaborating with Libya’s National Oil Corporation on seismic surveys off the coast. Additionally, Turkey supplies weapons and training to Hifter’s forces, aiming to counter Egyptian and Russian influence in the east.

The new corridor also poses a threat to the planned EastMed pipeline. This project was designed to transport gas from Israel and Cyprus through Greece to enhance EU energy security. The new maritime boundary cuts across the pipeline’s intended route. Turkey has argued that it requires consent for any cable or pipeline projects on its claimed continental shelf. In the long term, the region may divide into two distinct blocs: a Turkey-Libya axis and an EU-supported grouping of Greece, Cyprus, Egypt, and Israel.