Libya approves new sea route with Turkey, challenging Greece
A unanimous parliamentary vote in Libya endorses a maritime corridor that Greece and the European Union say violates international law by ignoring island rights.
By Thomas Obasi ·
Libya's parliament voted unanimously on Tuesday to approve a maritime agreement with Turkey, establishing a direct economic link between the two nations. This move is expected to intensify existing friction in the eastern Mediterranean, particularly with Greece, which views the new boundary as an infringement on its territorial claims.
The decision marks a significant reversal for the eastern branch of the Libyan government. In 2019, the rival administration in the east opposed a similar deal struck by the UN-recognized Government of National Accord in the west. Now, the eastern parliament has aligned itself with Ankara, a shift that Turkey's Foreign Ministry has publicly welcomed as a step toward regional stability.
The corridor connects Turkey's southern coastline with Libya's northern shore. Recent geological surveys have identified large oil and gas deposits in this area, with estimates suggesting that natural gas reserves worth hundreds of billions of US dollars may lie beneath the seabed. Both Ankara and Tripoli aim to secure their economic rights to these resources and pursue joint exploitation.
The planned route bypasses several Greek islands, including Crete, Karpathos, and Rhodes. Athens maintains that it holds a comprehensive exclusive economic zone around these territories. The Greek Foreign Ministry announced on X that it firmly rejects the accord, noting the backing of the European Union. The EU has declared the memorandum null and void, arguing that it violates the sovereign rights of third states and is inconsistent with the Law of the Sea.
Kaja Kallas, the EU's high representative for foreign affairs and security policy, echoed this sentiment. She stated on X that she had raised the issue following the Libyan vote and emphasized that the agreement infringes upon the sovereign rights of third states. The core of the dispute lies in the interpretation of whose claims are legitimate under international law.
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 applies to Crete, Rhodes, and Lesbos. It also cites a 2022 ruling by the International Court of Justice involving Colombia and Nicaragua, which established that overlapping interests require a fair demarcation based on coastlines, geography, and the impact of any boundary.
Turkey contends that the specific geography of the Mediterranean deserves special consideration. Ankara argues that if every small Greek island near its coast and those of Cyprus received a full exclusive economic zone, Turkey would be largely cut off from the open sea. Because Turkey never signed the convention, it does not accept arbitration by a UN tribunal, and legal experts remain divided on what constitutes a fair division in this complex environment.
The political landscape in Libya has changed significantly since 2019, when civil war was active and Turkey intervened militarily to support the Tripoli government against an offensive by eastern General Khalifa Hifter. Since then, a Turkish charm offensive has led to a rapprochement with Hifter's camp. Turkish firms have secured reconstruction contracts worth billions, and the state oil company TPAO is collaborating with Libya's National Oil Corporation on seismic surveys. Turkey also provides weapons and training to Hifter's forces, helping to counter Egyptian and Russian influence in the region.
The new agreement also poses a challenge to the planned EastMed pipeline, which was designed to transport gas from Israel and Cyprus through Greece to enhance EU energy security. The new corridor intersects with the pipeline's intended route. Turkey has argued that any cable or pipeline projects on its claimed continental shelf require its consent. In the long term, the region risks splitting into two distinct blocs: a Turkey-Libya axis and an EU-supported grouping comprising Greece, Cyprus, Egypt, and Israel.
