Turkey offers Egypt a maritime zones delimitation deal — Cyprus Mail

Turkey has said it is ready to sign an agreement with Egypt on the delimitation of maritime zones. Turkish Defense Ministry spokesperson Admiral Zeki Aktürk said that, in Ankara’s view, such an arrangement would give Cairo more than 15,000 square kilometers of additional maritime jurisdiction compared with a potential agreement with Greece, Cyprus Mail reports.

Statement by the Turkish Defense Ministry

The proposal was voiced on October 28 during a weekly briefing by the Turkish Defense Ministry. Aktürk said that Turkey was ready to conclude an agreement with Egypt on the delimitation of maritime jurisdiction zones in accordance with mutual interests.

The Turkish Defense Ministry also welcomed the approval by Libya’s House of Representatives on October 20 of the 2019 memorandum on maritime jurisdiction between Turkey and Libya. The ministry called this an important development supporting Ankara’s approach, which, according to the Turkish side, is based on international law and takes into account the rights of the coastal states involved.

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Dispute over the memorandum with Libya

Turkey signed the 2019 memorandum with the Tripoli-based government of Fayez al-Sarraj. The document defines a maritime border between the Turkish and Libyan coasts, without taking into account the Greek islands between them, including Crete.

Greece, Cyprus and the European Union rejected the memorandum, calling it invalid. Egypt also objected to the Turkey-Libya agreement. In August 2020, Cairo and Athens concluded a partial agreement on the delimitation of maritime zones, which was then viewed as a response to the Turkish-Libyan memorandum. Egypt has not publicly responded to Turkey’s latest proposal.