Despite Cairo’s categorical rejection of the maritime agreement between Libya and Turkey, Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty arrived in Tripoli on Saturday for a visit, the first of its kind in years, opening a new channel of communication with the government of Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh. While Egypt maintains its legal position on the agreement, Tripoli is sending reassuring messages regarding Egyptian interests in the Eastern Mediterranean, raising questions about the ability of both sides to contain their differences.
The visit carries particular significance as it is the first visit by an Egyptian foreign minister to Tripoli since 2011. It also comes weeks after the Libyan House of Representatives voted in favour of the memorandum of understanding concerning the determination of maritime jurisdiction areas between Libya and Turkey. This move brought the maritime borders issue back to the forefront of disputes in the Eastern Mediterranean and prompted Cairo to renew its rejection of the agreement, warning of its implications for Egypt’s sovereign rights.
An Egyptian diplomatic source told Sky News Arabia that the visit includes three main tracks: participation in the meetings of the Executive Council of the Community of Sahel-Saharan States, the opening of the Egyptian Embassy in Tripoli, and the strengthening of bilateral relations and joint African cooperation.
Al-Orabi added that the memorandum affects Egyptian interests, pointing out that Cairo had warned from the outset that drawing maritime boundaries in this manner could lead to an overlap with its rights and interests in its exclusive economic zone.
The roots of the dispute date back to November 27, 2019, when Turkey and Libya’s Government of National Accord, then headed by Fayez al-Sarraj, signed two memorandums of understanding: one on security and military cooperation, and the other on determining maritime jurisdiction areas in the Mediterranean Sea.
The maritime memorandum sparked objections from Egypt, Greece and Cyprus because of the maritime boundary route drawn between Turkey and Libya, which these countries considered an disregard for their rights and maritime claims in the Eastern Mediterranean. This is particularly related to overlapping claims concerning exclusive economic zones and the continental shelf, as well as the associated rights to explore and exploit natural resources.
The dispute was recently renewed after the Libyan House of Representatives voted unanimously on October 20 to approve the memorandum of understanding signed with Turkey and cancel two previous decisions issued in 2020, concerning the refusal to ratify the two memorandums signed between Tripoli and Ankara and the severing of political relations with Turkey.
Following the vote, the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs renewed its rejection of the memorandum, describing it as “absolutely null and void, and having no legal effect,” while affirming its rejection of any measures or actions based on it that contradict Egypt’s declared maritime boundaries.
Cairo stressed that the memorandum violates the principles of international maritime law and the provisions of the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea concerning the delimitation of the exclusive economic zone and the continental shelf. It considered the memorandum an infringement on Egypt’s sovereign rights in its exclusive economic zone and continental shelf.
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