Dendias to meet Egyptian counterpart over Turkey-Libya memorandum

Both Greece’s foreign minister and his Egyptian counterpart question legitimacy of the memorandum of understanding between Turkey and Libya’s government of national unity, diplomatic sources in Athens said on Monday.

Nikos Dendias spoke with Sameh Shoukry and both ministers would meet in Cairo for consultations on Sunday.

The ministers spoke after Libya’s Tripoli government signed a series of preliminary economic agreements with Turkey on Monday that included potential energy exploration in maritime areas, but Libya’s eastern-based parliament rejected the move.

Dendias also met with US Ambassador George Tsunis to “discuss the latest developments in Libya,” the ministry tweeted.

“Greece is following very closely the developments in Libya and especially the signing of a ‘memorandum of cooperation’ between the Government of National Unity (GNU) of Libya and Turkey in the field of hydrocarbons,” the Foreign Ministry in Athens said in a statement..

 “Greece has sovereign rights in the area, which it intends to defend by all legal means, with full respect for International Law of the Sea.”

Greece has demarcated its exclusive economic zone with Egypt, it added.

The statement said that in the absence of a bilateral agreement, its rights to the continental shelf is defined by the median line.

An earlier Turkish-Libyan “memorandum” of 2019 is illegal, invalid and non-existent, it continued. “Therefore, no one has any right to invoke it.”

“Any reference or action in implementation of the said ‘memorandum’ will be de facto illegal and depending on its seriousness, there will be a reaction both at the bilateral level and at the EU and NATO level.

“Greece will continue to inform its partners and allies about Turkey’s destabilizing role,” it said. [AMNA, Reuters, Ekathimerini]