Turkey urges dialogue between Egypt and Libya over maritime borders

The new declared boundary line by Egypt in the Mediterranean Sea “seems to violate Libya’s continental shelf rights,” as it was drawn west of the median line between the mainland coasts of those two countries, Turkish diplomatic sources said on Sunday, the state news agency Anadolu reported, adding that Turkey is calling on both countries to start dialogue and negotiations "as soon as possible" to resolve the differences between the two countries over the demarcation of maritime border.

The sources’ remarks came after Libya on Friday rejected a December 11 decision by Egypt to unilaterally demarcate its western maritime borders with neighboring Libya with nine geographic coordinates.

Stressing that the boundary line was not agreed upon through bilateral negotiations between Libya and Egypt, the sources said Turkey favors the launching of dialogue and negotiations between Egypt and Libya as soon as possible for the delimitation of their boundary in line with international law.

In late 2019, Turkey signed a memorandum of understanding with Libya to demarcate maritime zones, a move that triggered strong reactions in Athens, Nicosia and Cairo.

The Turkish-Libyan deal ignores the island of Crete, and Greece says Turkey wants to set a legal precedent with an MoU that is “illegal” under international law.

After years of strained relations, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan and his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah el-Sisi shared an enthusiastic handshake on the sidelines of the World Cup in Qatar last month.