Libya’s House of Representatives on Tuesday unanimously approved the 2019 memorandum of understanding that delimits maritime jurisdiction areas between Türkiye and Libya. The vote reverses the eastern-based parliament’s earlier opposition to the deal, and Ankara welcomed it within hours.
According to a statement from the Libyan chamber cited by Anadolu Agency, lawmakers also unanimously revoked a 2020 decision in which the House had rejected two memoranda signed between the then Government of National Accord (GNA) in Tripoli and the Turkish government.
Ankara welcomes the decision
Türkiye’s Foreign Ministry said in a written statement on 20 October that it welcomed the approval. The ministry said the memorandum is based on international law and the principle of equity, takes into account the mutual rights and interests of both countries, and will deepen bilateral cooperation. It added that Türkiye would keep working with all partners to build trust, stability and peace in the Mediterranean.
Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan later held separate phone calls with Abdulhamid Dbeibah, prime minister of the Tripoli-based Government of National Unity, and Saddam Haftar, deputy commander-in-chief of the eastern-based Libyan National Army, to thank them for the decision, according to Foreign Ministry sources. Haftar was quoted as saying the memorandum would help protect Libya’s rights and economic interests in the Mediterranean and could open the way to wider investment and long-term partnership with Türkiye.
Separately, İbrahim Kalın, head of Turkish intelligence (MİT), met Dbeibah in Libya. The two discussed preserving calm in the country and bringing Libya’s rival eastern and western administrations and armed forces under a single authority, an effort Kalın said Türkiye was ready to support.
Why the deal matters
The memorandum was signed in November 2019 by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and the head of the then UN-recognised GNA. It draws a maritime boundary between the Turkish and Libyan coasts in the eastern Mediterranean, an area where Türkiye, Greece, Cyprus and Egypt hold competing claims over waters that may contain oil and gas. Greece and Egypt have long rejected the deal, and in 2020 signed their own partial maritime agreement.
Until now, critics argued the memorandum lacked legitimacy because Libya’s eastern-based parliament had never endorsed it. Tuesday’s vote removes that argument from the Libyan side, at a time when Türkiye has been building ties with the eastern camp as well as Tripoli. Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar said on the same day that Turkish oil and gas activities are planned in Libya.
The move also comes as eastern Mediterranean energy issues return to the European agenda, including Greek Cypriot plans to raise a Türkiye-Cyprus gas pipeline proposal with EU ministers, and as Ankara prepares to send its Osman Gazi floating production platform to the Sakarya gas field in the Black Sea. Türkiye has also been deepening defence ties with European partners, including a security cooperation roadmap with France.
For foreigners following Turkish affairs, the decision is mainly diplomatic for now, with no immediate effect on travel or daily life. Readers planning a longer stay can find practical steps in our moving to Türkiye checklist.
Sources
- Dışişleri Bakanlığı’ndan Libya’nın deniz yetki alanları kararına ilişkin açıklama: Memnuniyetle karşılıyoruz (Hürriyet)
- Türkiye, Libya Temsilciler Meclisinin deniz yetki muhtırasını onaylamasını memnuniyetle karşıladı (Anadolu Ajansı)
- Dışişleri Bakanı Fidan, Libyalı yetkililer Dibeybe ve Hafter ile telefonda görüştü (Anadolu Ajansı)
- Bakan Fidan’dan Libya diplomasisi (NTV)
Photo: Jaw101ie / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
