On Tuesday, the Prime Minister of Libya’s Government of National Unity (GNU), Abdel-Hamid Dbaiba held talks with the Chief of the Turkish National Intelligence Organization (MIT), Hakan Fidan.
During the talks, the two officials discussed enhancing Libyan-Turkish relations, in addition to files of common interest at the local and regional levels.
The meeting was attended by Libya’s Foreign Minister, Najla Al-Mangoush.
The visit followed last week’s announcement by a Libyan court, which suspended the controversial maritime deal with Turkey.
Fidan’s visit also comes days after the visit of Director of the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), William Burns to Libya. The two sides discussed terrorism, the oil and gas sector, and the presence of foreign forces on Libyan soil.
Last week, the Tripoli Court of Appeal ruled to suspend the implementation of the Libyan-Turkish memorandum of understanding, on oil and gas exploration in the Mediterranean.
In October, Libya and Turkey signed a series of economic agreements that included potential energy exploration in maritime areas.
The agreements will allow for oil and gas exploration in Libyan waters and come three years after the two countries signed a maritime border deal, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said after signing the MoU in Tripoli.
Greece notified the UN Secretary-General that the GNU has no right to proceed with any agreement that binds subsequent, democratically elected governments.
During a joint press conference with his Egyptian counterpart, Sameh Shoukry in October, Greek Foreign Minister, Nikos Dendias accused Turkey of exploiting “the turbulent situation in Libya to further destabilize security in the Mediterranean region, and establish a regional hegemony.”
