Turkey defiant as Greece says deal with Libya invalid

Dispute over eastern Mediterranean gas reserves offshore has become increasingly shrill with countries in the region jostling to stake their claims.

ATHENS - Greece has lodged objections to the United Nations over an accord between Libya and Turkey mapping out maritime boundaries as a violation of international law, the Greek government said on Tuesday.

Turkey has come under criticism from Greece and others after signing a military deal last month with the Tripoli-based Government of National Accord (GNA) led by Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj.

Greece expelled the Libyan ambassador in response to the deal last week, infuriated at a pact which skirts the Greek island of Crete and infringes, in Athens's view, its continental shelf.

"This agreement was compiled in bad faith," government spokesman Stelios Petsas said.

"It violates the (UN) Law of the Sea. The sea zones of Turkey and Libya do not meet, and nor is there a sea border between the two states," Petsas said.

The deal has been staunchly opposed by Greece, Cyprus and their European partners which says it violates Mediterranean islands' maritime rights.

It has also drawn criticism from Egypt, which is a partner in the Eastern Mediterranean Gas Forum - an international forum that was set up to promote cooperation in the exploitation of the region's energy reserves, from which Turkey was excluded.

The move from Athens comes after Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in an interview with Turkish state media that the accord could lead to Turkey and Libya could holding joint exploration activities in the eastern Mediterranean.

“With this agreement, we have increased the territory over which we have authority to the maximum level. We can conduct joint exploration activities,” Erdogan told state broadcaster TRT Haber.

Energy row

A row over eastern Mediterranean gas reserves offshore has become increasingly shrill with countries in the region jostling to stake their claims.

“Other international actors cannot carry out exploration operations in these areas Turkey drew (up) with this accord without getting permission. Greek Cyprus, Egypt, Greece and Israel cannot establish a gas transmission line without first getting permission from Turkey,” Erdogan said, insisting that the agreement was in accordance with international law.

Turkey has had a long-running disagreement with Cyprus over reserves around that island. Turkey is the only country that recognises the breakaway Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, and says its presence in the island's waters is to ensure that Turkish Cypriots receive their fair share of energy reserves.

Greece and Turkey are also at loggerheads over mineral rights in the Aegean Sea. Greece has accused the internationally-recognised Libyan government of deceiving Athens by negotiating the deal with Ankara signed last month.

It carves out a slanting sea corridor of maritime boundaries at the closest points between Libya and Turkey, potentially clearing the way for oil and gas search there.

Petsas, the Greek spokesman, said Greece had asked its EU partners to formulate a framework of sanctions on Turkey and Libya if the agreement is not rescinded.

Turkey also faces sanctions for its actions around Cyprus, which was split in a Turkish invasion in 1974 after a Greek-inspired coup.

Peace talks on the island have been in limbo since United Nations-led efforts collapsed in disarray in 2017, and any tension between Turkey and Greece inevitably rubs off on the island.

On Tuesday, the Greek and Turkish Cypriot leaders, Nicos Anastasiades and Mustafa Akinci, cancelled plans to attend a reception hosted by the United Nations in Nicosia.

'A new Syria'

Aside from the maritime accord, Turkey and Libya also signed an expanded security and military cooperation agreement.

Erdogan said the military accord granted Turkey the right to deploy troops in Libya if the Tripoli government so asked, and added this would not violate a United Nations arms embargo on Libya, which is plagued by factional conflict.

“In the event of such a call coming, it is Turkey’s decision what kind of initiative it will take here. We will not seek the permission of anyone on this,” he said.

"On the issue of sending soldiers... If Libya makes such a request from us, we can send our personnel there, especially after striking the military security agreement," he added.

Erdogan said he was hoping to speak with Russian President Vladimir Putin about the situation in Libya where Moscow is suspected of providing military support to eastern Libya’s Field Martial Khalifa Haftar.

Erdogan's comments come after media reports claimed that Russia had sent 200 mercenaries to support Haftar, who is seeking to unseat the Tripoli-based GNA.

Russia has denied the reports, but Erdogan said: "There is a security company from Russia (in Libya) called Wagner. This company sent its security staff there."

The Wagner Group is a shadowy private security firm and thousands of its security contractors are believed to be in foreign conflicts from Syria to Ukraine to the Central African Republic.

Haftar earlier this year began an assault on the Tripoli base of the GNA, and Russian mercenaries were accused of backing up his forces, which Russia denied.

“I hope that the Haftar issue does not breed a new Syria in our relations with Russia,” Erdogan said.

Although Ankara and Moscow have been working closely to end the Syrian civil war, they are on opposing sides of the eight-year conflict.