Libyan Parliament Unanimously Approves Maritime Boundary Memorandum with Turkey on October 20
Key Facts
Libya’s House of Representatives voted unanimously to approve the maritime memorandum of understanding with Turkey on October 20, 2026, according to the Libyan News Agency. The vote revives an agreement signed by Libya’s Government of National Accord and the Turkish government in 2019, after the council had previously opposed it. Alongside its approval, the council repealed Decision No. 1 of 2020, which rejected ratification of the two memoranda of understanding, and Decision No. 6 of 2020, which called for severing political relations with Turkey. Repealing the two decisions marks a shift in parliament’s position toward Ankara and the maritime agreement. But the vote does not, by itself, establish that other legal procedures have been completed or change the memorandum’s legal status vis-à-vis third countries.
The memorandum was signed in Istanbul on November 27, 2019, by then-Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu and Mohamed Taher Siala, foreign minister of Libya’s Government of National Accord. It was registered with the United Nations on December 11 of the same year, according to the Libyan News Agency. The memorandum delineates maritime jurisdiction areas between the two countries, including continental shelf and exclusive economic zone boundaries, based on geographic coordinates and technical annexes. It also includes mechanisms for resolving disputes through diplomatic channels. It allows the two parties to conclude agreements on the joint exploitation of certain natural resources, according to the agency.
Turkey’s presidency welcomed the ratification, calling it “an important development for protecting the shared rights and interests of Libya and Turkey” and a step toward defining maritime jurisdiction areas on a fair basis, according to the Libyan News Agency. Egypt, by contrast, rejected the ratification, saying its approval “creates no legal consequences for Egypt.” Israel condemned the council’s vote, saying the maritime agreement “violates the rights of our allies.” Greece rejected the vote, with its foreign ministry saying it does not change “the illegal, invalid and baseless nature of the memorandum.” Cyprus also described the memorandum as “illegal, invalid and without effect,” according to the Associated Press.
Greece’s foreign ministry said Turkey and Libya do not have opposite or adjacent coastlines that would provide a legal basis for delimiting maritime areas between them. It added that the memorandum disregards the rights of the Greek islands located between the two coastlines. In August 2020, Egypt and Greece signed a maritime agreement in response to the Turkish-Libyan agreement, and Greek officials said it effectively invalidated it. In Tripoli, the foreign ministry of the Government of National Unity described the ratification as a “positive development” in relations with Turkey. It said cooperation would proceed in accordance with the relevant rules and principles of international law.
The vote comes amid a divided Libyan political landscape between the government of Abdul Hamid Dbeibah in Tripoli in the west and the administration led by Prime Minister Osama Hammad in the east, where Khalifa Haftar has military influence, according to the Associated Press. Parliament’s decision gives the memorandum political backing from the council, while the positions of dissenting countries remain part of the debate over its regional effects. These maritime disputes are tied to broader competition over waters in the eastern Mediterranean, where natural gas discoveries in recent years have fueled competing claims to maritime waters. The memorandum puts continental shelf and exclusive economic zone boundaries at the heart of that dispute. Sources did not specify a date for a subsequent step on implementing the memorandum or addressing objections from neighboring countries.