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Libya's House of Representatives has ratified the 2019 memorandum of understanding with Turkey on the delimitation of maritime jurisdiction areas, a step analysts say removes part of the basis for objections raised by Greece, Egypt and the former Syrian government and strengthens Turkey's legal arguments in the Aegean and the Eastern Mediterranean.

Speaking to Anadolu Agency, three analysts said the vote strips away the main justification Egypt relied on and one of the two grounds Greece has cited, while also giving Ankara a firmer institutional footing in future delimitation talks and negotiations with Libya.

Ratification removes part of the objections

Prof. Dr. Yücel Acer, a faculty member at Ankara Yıldırım Beyazıt University and senior researcher at the Foundation for Political, Economic and Social Research (SETA), said the 2019 agreement draws a 30-kilometre maritime boundary between Libya and Turkey, delimiting the continental shelf and the exclusive economic zone. Greece, Egypt and the then Syrian government stated at the time that they did not recognise the deal.

Acer said Greece argued that no agreement could be signed between Turkey and Libya because the Greek islands lying between them have a continental shelf, making such a delimitation technically impossible. Greece's second argument, Acer said, was that the memorandum was invalid because it had not been approved by Libya's House of Representatives.

On Egypt's side, Acer said the objection was that Libya's Government of National Accord lacked the authority to conclude such an agreement and that parliament had not ratified it. "So the Libyan House of Representatives approving this agreement actually removes the sole justification in Egypt's hands. It also removes one of Greece's two main arguments," Acer said. Turkey had maintained that the memorandum was valid because it was signed by the Government of National Accord even without parliamentary approval, and had sent it to the relevant UN body for publication.

A stronger position in the Aegean and Eastern Mediterranean

Acer pointed to a further dimension of the deal, saying Libya had become the first actor outside Turkey to accept the Turkish argument that the islands in the eastern Aegean do not have a continental shelf because their position blocks Turkey's continental shelf. "Its reflection on the Aegean is very important. We argue that Greek islands in the Aegean should not have a continental shelf either. From this point of view the agreement is very important for Turkey. It was also a rather uncomfortable agreement for Greece. The parliament's approval has strengthened Turkey's hand considerably," Acer said.

Acer said the ratification reinforces Turkey's legal position in future delimitation in the Aegean and also supports its stance in the Eastern Mediterranean, where Turkey does not recognise a continental shelf for the island of Meis. Dr. Kaan Devecioğlu, North and East Africa Studies Coordinator at the Center for Middle Eastern Studies (ORSAM), added that Turkey can now defend its Eastern Mediterranean claims through a memorandum also backed by Libya's eastern-based parliament, which weakens the political basis for attempts to make the deal contentious through Libya's internal divisions.

"There is no party left to object"

Hasan Kalyoncu University faculty member and SETA senior researcher Doç. Dr. Murat Aslan said the agreement complies with all rules and practice of international law. "Two states that see each other's coast are delimiting the maritime area between them. There is no party left to object to this," Aslan said.

Aslan recalled that Greece declared the agreement invalid from the date of signature and moved to conclude a similar deal with Egypt, arguing that the Tripoli-based Government of National Accord had no authority to sign it. With the House of Representatives in Benghazi approving the memorandum, Aslan said, that objection has lost its basis.

Aslan also said Greece had planned survey work to lay telecommunications and electricity cables on the seabed, along with joint exercises in some areas, but that under the agreement such activities can no longer be carried out lawfully without Turkey's consent. Aslan noted that the Turkey-Libya agreement was notified to the UN Office of Legal Affairs before the Greece-Egypt deal, and argued that a claim cannot be renewed over an area already notified, meaning the Atina-Kahire agreement has been shelved.

Turkish diplomacy between Tripoli and Benghazi

Aslan said city and tribal identities in Libya, along with armed groups and competing power centres, make political consensus difficult, and that this complex structure helped prolong the ratification process. Aslan described Turkey as pursuing a careful balancing policy in Libya, with its intelligence agency, foreign ministry and embassy in Tripoli working hard on the file.

Aslan said shuttle diplomacy between the Tripoli and Benghazi administrations strengthened dialogue between the two sides and produced progress towards merging institutions and advancing the political process. Once technical obstacles in Libya are resolved, Aslan estimated, elections could be held within two years. "The signed and approved agreement serves not only Turkey's interests but also Libya's, and it has a character that calms Libya's internal dynamics," Aslan said.

Devecioğlu said the most important outcome is the stronger institutional footing the memorandum now has inside Libya. "The House of Representatives, which previously rejected the memorandum, has now approved it and lifted its decision to cut ties with Turkey, showing that the political approach in eastern Libya towards cooperation with Ankara has changed. The claim that the agreement is only the preference of a Tripoli-based administration is correspondingly weakened," Devecioğlu said.

Limits of the vote and what comes next

Devecioğlu recalled that the memorandum is registered in the UN Treaty Series as entering into force on 8 December 2019, and said today's decision should not be read as the agreement gaining legal existence for the first time. The parliamentary approval provides an additional institutional basis that strengthens Turkey's hand against debates over domestic approval and representation, Devecioğlu said.

Devecioğlu said the wider institutional ownership could reduce uncertainty over future government changes in Libya and create a more predictable political environment for energy cooperation. However, approval of the delimitation memorandum does not by itself amount to a new exploration or production licence, and concrete projects still require agreement, permitting and investment processes. Devecioğlu also cautioned that one ground for Greece's objection, the substantive dispute over islands' maritime zones and the delimitation method, has not been removed by the vote, and that the European Union has previously opposed the memorandum on third-state rights and law of the sea grounds, so expecting Athens or the EU to change position automatically is unrealistic.

Devecioğlu said the decision can be read as one concrete result of the ties Turkey has developed with actors in eastern Libya, and that Ankara's approach of keeping up relations with Tripoli while expanding contacts in the east has made the benefits of cooperation more visible to different Libyan circles. Political divisions in Libya have not ended, Devecioğlu said, and convergence on maritime jurisdiction does not mean agreement on merging the executive, elections or the sharing of public revenues. The gain for Ankara, Devecioğlu said, lies in being seen as a workable partner by different parts of Libya rather than in closeness to any single political actor.

Key takeaways

• Libya's House of Representatives ratified the 2019 Turkey-Libya memorandum on maritime jurisdiction areas.
• Analysts say the vote removes Egypt's sole objection and one of Greece's two main arguments against the deal.
• The agreement also records the Turkish view that Greek islands in the eastern Aegean have no continental shelf, a first outside Turkey.
• Analysts caution that approval does not itself grant exploration licences and does not resolve the substantive dispute with Greece or the EU.