Mavi Boncuk | Tensions are already running high between Athens and Ankara because of Turkish drilling in the eastern Mediterranean off the coast of the divided island of Cyprus, and the European Union has prepared sanctions against Turkey in response.
The dispute has left Ankara searching for allies in the region. The new agreements were signed at a meeting on Wednesday between Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan and Fayez al-Serraj, the head of the Tripoli-based government which Ankara is backing against a rival military force based in eastern Libya.
“This means protecting Turkey’s rights deriving from international law,” Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said of the memorandum of understanding on the “delimitation of maritime jurisdictions”. The development doesn’t come as any surprise. Libya has two governments that are engaged in a civil war. Al-Sarraj’s National Accord government is based in the capital Tripoli and has been recognized by the United Nations. Based in Tobruk in eastern Libya, the government of Khalifa al-Ghawil is backed by France, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Russia – and indirectly by the United States.