Libya Unanimously Ratifies Turkish Sea Corridor
Parliament approved the pact Tuesday, a move that overrides Greek claims and threatens the EastMed pipeline route.
By John Ferrari ·
Libya’s parliament voted unanimously on Tuesday to approve a maritime agreement with Turkey, establishing a formal economic corridor between the two nations.
The legislative move reverses a previous stance taken by the rival eastern government, which had opposed the deal when it was first signed in 2019 by the UN-recognized administration in Tripoli. The Turkish Foreign Ministry immediately welcomed the ratification, marking a consolidation of Ankara’s strategic position in the region.
The corridor connects Turkey’s southern coastline with Libya’s northern coast. Recent geological surveys indicate substantial oil and gas deposits beneath the seabed, with estimates placing the value of natural gas reserves at several hundred billion US dollars. Ankara and Tripoli intend to secure their respective rights to these resources and proceed with joint exploitation.
Athens has voiced strong opposition to the accord. Greece’s Foreign Ministry stated on X that the deal is firmly rejected with the backing of the European Union. The ministry declared the memorandum 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, reinforced this position, noting that the agreement infringes upon the sovereign rights of neighboring states.
The conflict centers on competing interpretations of maritime boundaries. Greece asserts that inhabited islands such as Crete, Karpathos, and Rhodes possess full exclusive economic zone rights under Article 121 of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. Ankara counters that the Mediterranean’s specific geography requires special consideration, arguing that granting full zones to every small Greek island would leave Turkey largely isolated from the open sea. Turkey has not signed the convention and therefore does not accept arbitration by a UN tribunal.
Political dynamics in Libya have shifted since the 2019 civil war, during which Turkey militarily supported the western government against General Khalifa Hifter’s forces. A subsequent rapprochement led to Turkish firms winning billions in reconstruction contracts. The state oil company TPAO is currently collaborating with Libya’s National Oil Corporation on seismic surveys, while Ankara continues to supply weapons and training to Hifter’s forces to counter Egyptian and Russian influence.
The new corridor also intersects with the planned EastMed pipeline, which is designed to transport gas from Israel and Cyprus through Greece to the European Union. Turkey has previously argued that it requires consent for any cable or pipeline projects on its claimed continental shelf. The ratification suggests the region may divide into two distinct geopolitical blocs: a Turkey-Libya axis and an EU-supported grouping of Greece, Cyprus, Egypt, and Israel.
