DM Monitoring
Ankara: Arecent agreement signed between Greece and Egypt on the delimitation of maritime jurisdictions in the Eastern Mediterranean is “null and void,” President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said Friday, underlining that Turkey will decisively pursue its agreement with the Libyan government.
Erdoğan said the deal “has no value” and reminded that Turkey paused its hydrocarbon exploration efforts upon German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s request for a solution, but drilling has resumed immediately as Athens and Cairo went back on their word. “There’s no need for discussion with those who have no rights, especially in maritime zones,” he added.
Turkey pointed out that the deal usurped and ignored the rights and continental shelves of both Ankara and Tripoli. Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu late Thursday indicated that the text and map of the agreement had yet to be revealed, adding: “However, it’s obvious by the given coordinates that the deal not only violates the rights and continental shelf of Turkey but also of Libya.”
“Hence, an agreement that violates our continental shelf, which we have reported to the U.N., is null and void and the reason why we’ve come to this point is that countries like Greece and the Greek Cypriot administration, are trying to sign agreements with Egypt and Israel while ignoring Turkey,” Çavuşoğlu told Anadolu Agency (AA).
“We’ll continue to show them and the world that this agreement is null and void on the table and in the field,” the minister stated.
Turkey’s statements were followed by the official Libyan government which similarly condemned the Greek-Egyptian deal.
