Libya Parliament Ratifies Maritime Compact With Turkey

Eastern Mediterranean energy markets face a new structural shift as Libyan lawmakers move to formalize a direct economic link with Ankara.

Libya's parliament voted unanimously on Tuesday to approve a maritime agreement with Turkey. The accord creates a defined economic corridor connecting the southern coast of Turkey with the northern coast of Libya. This decision reverses the previous stance of the eastern government, which had opposed the initial 2019 deal signed by the western Government of National Accord. Turkey's Foreign Ministry welcomed the vote, signaling a unified Libyan position on resource management.

The primary financial driver for the corridor is the discovery of large oil and gas deposits in the intervening waters. Industry estimates suggest that natural gas reserves worth several hundred billion US dollars lie beneath the seabed. Ankara and Tripoli intend to secure their respective economic rights to these assets and proceed with joint exploitation. Turkish state oil company TPAO is already collaborating with Libya's National Oil Corporation on seismic surveys to map the deposits.

The new boundary ignores the territorial claims of Greece, which maintains exclusive economic zones around islands such as Crete, Karpathos, and Rhodes. Athens has firmly rejected the accord, arguing it violates the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. Kaja Kallas, the EU's high representative for foreign affairs and security policy, stated on social media that the agreement infringes upon the sovereign rights of third states. The European Union has declared the memorandum null and void because it is inconsistent with established maritime law.

Greece relies on Article 121 of the UN Convention, which grants inhabited islands the same economic rights as mainland territory. Athens cites a 2022 International Court of Justice ruling involving Colombia and Nicaragua to support its position on fair demarcation. Turkey, which is not a signatory to the convention, argues that the geography of the Mediterranean requires special consideration to prevent Turkey from being cut off from the open sea by a chain of small islands.

The political environment in Libya has changed since 2019, when civil war was active. Turkey's military intervention supported the western government against eastern General Khalifa Hifter. Since then, Ankara has pursued a strategy of rapprochement with Hifter's camp, securing reconstruction contracts worth billions of dollars. Turkish firms are active in the east, and Ankara supplies weapons and training to Hifter's forces, a move that counters Egyptian and Russian influence in the region.

The corridor also intersects with the planned EastMed pipeline, a project intended to transport gas from Israel and Cyprus to the European Union. Turkey argues that any cable or pipeline crossing its claimed continental shelf requires its consent. The ratification places the two major regional blocs on a direct collision course for the coming years.

The next scheduled step involves the formal notification of the agreement to relevant international bodies. Both nations have indicated that technical teams will begin coordinating the initial phases of the joint exploration program.