Libya's East approves sea route with Turkey, defying Greece

Lawmakers in eastern Libya voted unanimously on Tuesday to ratify a maritime agreement with Turkey. The decision creates a direct economic corridor connecting the southern coast of Turkey with the northern coast of Libya. This move reverses a previous stance by the eastern government and aligns it with Ankara.

The corridor covers waters where large deposits of oil and natural gas have been discovered. Estimates suggest the seabed holds gas reserves worth several hundred billion US dollars. Both nations intend to secure their economic rights to these resources and develop them jointly. This follows an initial agreement Turkey struck in 2019 with the UN-recognized government in western Libya.

The new route ignores several Greek islands, including Crete, Karpathos, and Rhodes. Athens maintains that it holds an exclusive economic zone surrounding these territories. Greece’s Foreign Ministry announced its firm rejection of the accord, noting that the European Union supports this position. The EU stated that the memorandum is 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, addressed the vote on X. She stated that the agreement infringes upon the sovereign rights of third states. This diplomatic friction highlights a long-standing dispute over whose legal claims are legitimate in the eastern Mediterranean.

Greece relies on Article 121 of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. This article grants inhabited islands that support their own economic life the same maritime rights as mainland territory. Athens argues this rule covers Crete, Rhodes, and Lesbos. It also points to a 2022 International Court of Justice ruling involving Colombia and Nicaragua, which emphasized fair demarcation of overlapping interests.

Turkey counters that Mediterranean geography requires special consideration. Ankara argues that granting full exclusive economic zones to every small Greek island near its coast would largely cut Turkey off from the open sea. Turkey has never signed the UN convention and does not accept arbitration by a UN tribunal. Legal experts remain divided on what constitutes a fair division in this specific region.

The political climate in Libya has shifted since 2019, when civil war was active and Turkey militarily supported the western government against eastern General Khalifa Hifter. A recent rapprochement has brought Hifter’s camp closer to Ankara. Turkish firms have secured billions in reconstruction contracts, and Turkey’s state oil company is collaborating with Libya’s National Oil Corporation on seismic surveys.

The agreement also threatens the planned EastMed pipeline, which aims to transport gas from Israel and Cyprus through Greece to the EU. The new corridor cuts across the pipeline’s intended route. Turkey has argued that it requires consent for cable or pipeline projects on its claimed continental shelf. The region may now split into two blocs: a Turkey-Libya axis and an EU-supported group including Greece, Cyprus, Egypt, and Israel.