Libya must end the illegal maritime pact with Turkey, demands Greek PM

Tripoli: – Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis demanded that if Libya wants Greek cooperation and friendship, Libya should first scrap the maritime pact signed with Turkey in 2019. This agreement, signed nearly one and a half years ago, has been accused of violating the rights of Greece, Cyprus and Egypt in the Mediterranean Sea region. Against this background, the Greek Prime Minister seems to have reminded Libya, trying to build cooperation with the European countries, of the condition.

In 2011, the Libyan rebels executed Muammar Gaddafi in the Arab Spring wave to free Libya from his tyrant dictatorship. A conflict is continuing between the rebel groups and the military ever since. Rebel General Khalifa Haftar controls eastern Syria; the extremists are in control of the western part. After so many years of conflict, a ceasefire was announced a few weeks ago. Against the ceasefire background, some European leaders are visiting Libya for the last few days.

Greek Prime Minister Mitsotakis visited Libya and met Abdulhamid Debeh, Prime Minister of the coalition government. Prime Minister Mitsotakis clarified that Greece was prepared to contribute to the Libyan rebuilding. But the Greek Prime Minister warned that before that, Libya would have to back out of the agreement signed with Turkey in 2019. Prime Minister Mitsotakis accused that this agreement claiming rights over the Mediterranean Sea is illegal. He also reminded at this time that even the European council had termed this agreement as illegal.

As per this agreement, known as the ’Maritime Bounty Treaty’, Turkey announced oil exploration in hundreds of nautical miles region in the Mediterranean Sea. Turkey had claimed rights over most of this region. But Turkey had claimed rights over marine regions of Greece, Cyprus and Egypt. The agreement had international repercussions. France, Italy, United States and even the United Arab Emirates had strongly criticised this agreement between Libya and Turkey. The Greek Prime Minister also drew attention to this during the Libya visit.

At the same time, the Greek Prime Minister also demanded that the foreign mercenaries should leave Libya. Prime Minister Mitsotakis avoided naming any country at this time. But the retort was clearly regarding the deployment of Turkish mercenaries in Libya. The European Union also has made a similar demand with Libya.

As per the United Nations, ten countries have setup bases in Libya, including Russia and Turkey.