The deal, whose details are yet undisclosed, has rekindled the dueling claims on maritime boundaries and gas and energy rights in the eastern Mediterranean, with Turkey and Libya on one side and Greece and Egypt on the other. Ankara shrugged off claims by Greece — and backed by the European Union — that the deal could destabilize the eastern Mediterranean. "We've signed a MoU on exploration for hydrocarbons in Libya's territorial waters and on Libyan soil, by mixed Turkish-Libyan companies," Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said at a press conference with his counterpart Najla al-Mangoush, the foreign minister of Libyan Government of National Unity (GNU). Libya's eastern-based parliament, which named Bashagha as the new prime minister in February, rejected Monday's deal, saying that the present government had no authority to sign any agreement. But a bilateral meeting between the two sides is unlikely, though Erdogan is expected to hold a bilateral meeting with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.

Source: Libya Today October 05, 2022 05:00 UTC