Cairo meeting denounces Turkey’s Libya pacts

The foreign ministers of Greece, Cyprus and Egypt, Nikos Dendias, Nikos Christodoulides and Sameh Shoukry, along with their French counterpart Jean-Yves Le Drian, on Wednesday jointly denounced two memorandums of understanding signed between Turkey and the Tripoli-based government in Libya as illegal and invalid.

The joint statement condemning the MoUs, which include an accord designating maritime boundaries and military cooperation between the two countries, was issued in Cairo during a summit of the four countries’ foreign ministers and Italy’s Luigi Di Maio, who attended as an observer.

It said the maritime delimitation pact between Turkey and Libya is not in accordance with international law, produces no legal consequence and violates the sovereign rights of states in the region.

It also condemned Turkey’s “illegal actions” in Cyprus’ exclusive economic zone. The four ministers said they will continue this format of consultations and that their next meeting will take place on Crete.

“It goes without saying that countries which understand that international law must be the code of conduct are discussing and taking initiatives,” said Dendias, who also lauded the presence at the summit of his French counterpart Le Drian “and his clear position, both at the meeting and after.”

In a separate development on Wednesday, Nicosia accepted a request from Washington for the stationing of a rapid deployment unit for the evacuation, should the need arise, of American diplomatic missions or citizens from the Middle East in case of emergency.

Also on Wednesday, a formation of US Chinook and Black Hawk helicopters departed from the Elefsina military airport in Greece to Cyprus.