A member of the Libyan Parliament, Jibril Awhaida voiced his rejection of Turkey’s “opportunistic practices to achieve its ultimate strategic and economic goals, in light of the political division prevailing in the country.”
In press statements, Awhaida said that he had previously warned against the “Parliament’s tendency to hold talks with Turkey, which became futile after it aligned itself again with Prime Minister, Abdel-Hamid Dbaiba.”
He pointed out that Parliament Speaker, Ageela Saleh’s visit to Ankara in early August was “based on pledges from the Turkish authorities to understand the reasons that prompted the Parliament to name Fathi Bashaga as the new Prime Minister. It promised to support the new government, but this did not materialise.”
The MP also announced his “complete support for the Parliament’s rejection of the maritime energy exploration deal signed with the Dbaiba government on 3 October.”
He pointed out that the deal “is an extension of the agreement on maritime boundaries and security cooperation that Turkey signed with the former Libyan government in 2019, which was not ratified by Parliament.”
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 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 Parliament 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.”