A day after lawmakers in Tobruk voted unanimously to ratify the 2019 Turkey–Libya maritime memorandum they had rejected for six years, Cairo called the deal "null and void," Israel accused Turkey of destabilising the eastern Mediterranean, and Athens said the agreement infringes the sovereign rights of other countries in the region.
Egypt, Israel and Greece on Wednesday condemned Libya's eastern parliament for ratifying a maritime boundaries deal with Turkey, a day after the House of Representatives in Tobruk voted unanimously to approve the 2019 memorandum and tore up two of its own 2020 decisions — one rejecting the deal, the other cutting political ties with Ankara. The agreement, first signed by Libya's then internationally recognised government in Tripoli, draws sea boundaries between Turkey and Libya across the eastern Mediterranean, in waters Greece and Egypt also claim.
Egypt's foreign ministry said the ratification would change nothing for Cairo: "Egypt reaffirms that this memorandum is null and void … possesses no legal effect," and added that the vote "will have no legal impact on Cairo." Israel's foreign ministry said it "strongly" condemned the approval: "Regretfully, once again we see Turkey working to destabilise the east Mediterranean region." Greece's foreign ministry said the deal "violated international maritime law and infringed upon the sovereign rights of other countries in the region," urged Libya to "avoid actions that could undermine stability in the Mediterranean," and said Athens had informed its partners and allies and would take all appropriate measures to "defend its sovereign rights." Greece's standing argument is that the memorandum has no legal effect because Turkey and Libya have no opposite or adjacent coasts. The European Union's position is the same as it has been since 2019: Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the EU "deeply regretted" the ratification.
"Egypt reaffirms that this memorandum is null and void … possesses no legal effect."
Libya's lawmakers defended the vote on their own terms. Tarek al-Jeroushi told Reuters the agreement strengthens Libya's position as a political, military and economic partner, with strategic advantages in economic, political and national-security affairs, and that specialised committees had explained the deal in full before the vote. Saddam Haftar, deputy commander of the eastern forces, welcomed the approval and called the deal "a tool that can help protect Libya's rights and economic interests in the Mediterranean." Turkey's foreign ministry said the agreement respected the mutual rights and interests of both countries under international law and the principles of equity, and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan called the vote "extremely pleasing news," with his spokesman saying the deal aims at "fair sharing, peace and stability in the eastern Mediterranean."
The reversal ends years of eastern opposition. The east, under military commander Khalifa Haftar, had withheld approval since 2019, but relations with Ankara have warmed — including a July deal on the use of military facilities and a visit to Tripoli this week by Turkey's intelligence chief. Greece and Egypt signed their own overlapping sea-boundaries deal in 2020, which Turkey opposes, so the map of competing claims has not moved — only Libya's position on it has. Al-Jeroushi, speaking for the parliament that just changed sides in that argument, put his chamber's reasoning plainly: "Some countries may be upset by this agreement, but what matters to us is our national interest."