Egypt’s foreign minister told his Turkish counterpart Friday that Cairo rejects ratification of the 2019 Turkey-Libya maritime agreement, bringing the dispute directly into talks between the two countries in Istanbul.
Badr Abdelatty reiterated Egypt’s position during an October 23 meeting with Hakan Fidan, according to an Egyptian Foreign Ministry statement. He called for maritime boundaries to be determined under international law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. The ministry said Fidan expressed understanding of Egyptian concerns about developments in Libya and supported continued consultation.
Abdelatty also reaffirmed Egypt’s support for Libya’s territorial integrity and state institutions. The meeting took place alongside wider diplomatic discussions in Istanbul.
The Greece – Egypt Accord
Greece and Egypt signed their own agreement delimiting an exclusive economic zone on August 6, 2020. That accord forms part of the competing maritime positions in the eastern Mediterranean, where the treatment of islands is central to Greece’s case. At the signing in Cairo, then-Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias said the agreement recognized the rights of Greek islands to a continental shelf and exclusive economic zone. He contrasted it with the Turkey-Libya memorandum, which Athens rejects.
Turkey disputed the Greek-Egyptian agreement from the outset. In its August 2020 response, the Turkish Foreign Ministry argued that the area overlapped its claimed continental shelf and infringed Libya’s rights. Those were Ankara’s stated positions, rather than an agreed boundary or a judicial ruling.
Athens and Cairo maintain coordination
The latest Egyptian statement follows Greek-Egyptian consultations on Libya held in Athens on October 15. Egypt’s account of that meeting said the two sides supported a UN-backed political process leading to simultaneous presidential and parliamentary elections. The two delegations also supported efforts to unify Libya’s institutions and restore the state’s authority across its territory, the ministry said.
They also called for the departure of foreign forces and mercenaries and for respect for international law when drawing maritime boundaries with neighboring countries.
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