Egypt denounced the memorandum of understanding on energy between Turkey and Libya’s Government of National Unity (GNU), headed by Abdel-Hamid Dbaiba.
Spokesman for the Egypt Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ahmed Hafez said in press statements that the “outgoing government in Libya does not have the authority to conclude any international agreements or memoranda of understanding.”
Egyptian Foreign Minister, Sameh Shoukri and his Greek counterpart, Nikos Dendias expressed their rejection of the memorandum. They also discussed bilateral relations and regional issues, and the latest developments in Libya.
The two FM’s agreed to continue consultations on various regional and international issues of common interest.
On Monday, Libya and Turkey signed several economic agreements that included potential energy exploration in maritime areas, Mevlut Cavusoğlu, Turkey’s Foreign Minister said.
The agreements will allow for oil and gas exploration in Libyan waters. This comes three years after the two countries signed a maritime border deal.
Moreover, the Greek Foreign Ministry said in a statement that it was following the developments in Libya “very closely.”
The statement added that Greece “holds sovereign rights in the area, which it intends to defend by all legal means, in full respect to the International Law of the Sea.”
In turn, the Energy and Natural Resources Committee of the Libyan Parliament rejected the deal, saying that the GNU’s “mandate has ended and it has no longer a legal authorization to broker any international deals.”
The committee added that the “signing of the agreement with Turkey is illegal, and not binding for the Libyan state, as it was signed by a non-eligible party.”
It also rejected “such individual actions by the outgoing government, which seeks to stay in power at the expense of the capabilities of the Libyan people.”