Libyan parliament condemns Greece’s call to scrap 2019 maritime deal with Türkiye

TRIPOLI, Libya/ ISTANBUL

The Libyan parliament has denounced Greece’s call to cancel a memorandum of understanding signed between Tripoli and Ankara in 2019 on maritime boundary delimitation, describing it as “a clear violation of national sovereignty.”

On Sunday, during his meeting in Athens with his Libyan counterpart Aguila Saleh, Greek Parliament Speaker Nikitas Kaklamanis said the 2019 Türkiye–Libya maritime agreement must be revoked.

“We followed with astonishment and disapproval the repeated statements made by Greek officials, the latest of which were attributed to the Speaker of the Greek Parliament that contained explicit calls to interfere in Libya’s internal affairs,” Misbah Ouhida, the second deputy speaker of the Libyan parliament, said in a statement.

Ouhida called the Greek speaker’s remarks “a clear violation of national sovereignty.”

He affirmed his respect for “the principles of good neighborliness and bilateral relations based on mutual respect.”

“Libya is a fully sovereign state and alone knows its supreme interests and how to protect them,” he said, rejecting “any form of interference in Libya’s sovereign decisions or any attempt by an external party to impose political directives on it.”

The agreement concerns the delimitation of maritime boundaries between Libya and Türkiye. Greece claims that the deal constitutes an “assault” on its exclusive economic zone.

Regarding the agreement with Türkiye, Ouhida said agreements concluded by the state “are sovereign decisions governed by international laws and norms, and no country has the right to dictate Libya whether to ratify, abandon, or cancel them.”

He urged “the Greek side to exercise restraint, respect Libya’s sovereignty, and stop attempts to interfere in Libya’s internal affairs.”