Turkey Offers Egypt Maritime Delimitation Deal, Citing 15,000 Square Kilometre Gain

Ankara, Turkey. Turkey said on Wednesday that it is prepared to conclude an agreement with Egypt delimiting their maritime zones, and argued that Cairo would obtain more than 15,000 square kilometres of additional jurisdiction compared with an arrangement with Greece.

Offer made at weekly briefing

Defence ministry spokesman Admiral Zeki Akturk made the proposal during the ministry’s weekly press briefing. “We are ready to sign an agreement on the delimitation of maritime jurisdiction zones with Egypt, in accordance with mutual interests,” he said.

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He estimated that, relative to a possible deal between Egypt and Athens, Egypt would gain over 15,000 square kilometres of extra maritime jurisdiction.

Libyan approval of the 2019 memorandum

Akturk also welcomed a vote by the Libyan House of Representatives on October 20 to approve the 2019 memorandum on maritime jurisdiction between Turkey and Libya. The ministry described the vote as “an important development” that backs Ankara’s position. It said this position is grounded in international law and takes into account the rights of the coastal states concerned.

The ministry added that Turkey would keep safeguarding its lawful rights and interests in the Eastern Mediterranean.

Background to the memorandum

The memorandum was signed with the Tripoli-based government of Fayez al-Sarraj. It sets a maritime boundary between the Turkish and Libyan coasts that ignores the Greek islands lying between them, Crete among them.

Greece, Cyprus and the EU rejected the document, denouncing it as having no legal validity. Egypt also voiced objections to it.

In August 2020, Egypt concluded a partial delimitation agreement with Greece. At the time, that step was widely viewed as a reply to the Turkish-Libyan accord.