Libyan parliament adopts Turkey-Libya maritime memorandum

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan called the unanimous adoption by the Libyan House of Representatives of the Turkey-Libya Maritime Delimitation Memorandum of Understanding “extremely encouraging.” Speaking at an AK Party group meeting in parliament, he said he hoped the important decision would be auspicious and beneficial.

Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, speaking to an Anadolu Agency reporter in Brussels, said the agreement was legally and politically legitimate and added: “There is no need to debate it.” He said Turkish lawyers regard the Libyan House’s action as essentially an acceptance rather than a ratification, and that Türkiye had considered the 2019 deal valid since then. Fidan described the outcome as a diplomatic success of Turkish foreign policy under Erdoğan’s leadership, aimed at peace and stability in the Eastern Mediterranean.

Fidan said some countries reacting to the agreement were doing so because they felt they had to, while others had genuine strategic problems with the issue. Erdoğan also said a joint defence agreement signed with Pakistan and Saudi Arabia had been sent to parliament for approval.