In statements after meeting his Egyptian counterpart Sameh Shoukry in Cairo on Sunday, Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias accused Turkey of creating a “monstrosity” in the Turkish-Libyan memorandum of 2019, by blackmailing and exerting pressure on Libyan officials.
According to a Greek foreign ministry tweet, Dendias was welcomed by Shoukry, with whom he discussed the long-standing strategic relations between Greece and Egypt, as well as the situation in the Eastern Mediterranean and Libya. Dendias stressed, in his statements, that it was Greece’s obligation to defend its territorial rights using all available legal means.
“Three years later, Turkey is once again striving to exploit the turbulent situation in Libya in order to further destabilise security in the Mediterranean and establish itself as regional leader,” Dendias said, expressing his satisfaction that the signature of the so-called ‘Turkish-Libyan memorandum’ was unequivocally condemned by the EU, United States, Germany, Egypt, France, Italy and many others.
The overwhelming negative reaction to this agreement from the political forces in Libya itself “clearly shows that the only consequence of this act is the further destabilisation of the country,” he added.
“No government can grant Turkey concessions for exploratory drilling in areas where it does not have sovereign rights,” he underlined. He also pointed out that the term of the “national unity government” in Libya had long since expired, so that it no longer represented the Libyan people and had no authority to sign or revise previous agreements concerning the future of Libya’s foreign relations.
Among others, Dendias pointed out that the 2019 ‘memorandum’ had been denounced as illegal, invalid and non-existent as it violated fundamental principles of the international law of the sea, while it was never ratified but instead denounced by the Libyan parliament.
“One cannot build new facts on the basis of unlawful and illicit actions. No one can ignore geography, no one can create a ‘virtual’ world in which islands stop appearing on maps,” he added.
He noted that Greece and Egypt had signed an agreement for the delimitation of the Greek and Egyptian EEZs based on the international law of the sea, which granted exclusive rights to Greece and to Egypt.
“Greece has the intention and obligation to defend these rights with all available legal means. We seek nothing that does not belong to us….We do not undertake aggressive action nor undermine peace and stability,” Dendias said.
Dendias said the precarious situation in Libya and the Eastern Mediterranean was the main topic discussed with Shoukry and that they agreed that “a common strategic goal is a stable, prosperous and peaceful Libya in a stable Eastern Mediterranean.”
He said both countries have a shared goal, which is to help Libya become a functioning state, and that the friendship between Greece and Egypt was more than just a strategic partnership, with Greece doing its utmost to support Egypt on a bilateral level but also within the EU, while “Greece can count on Egypt’s support, both on a bilateral level and in the Arab League and other international fora.”
“Greece and Egypt are a bridge between Europe and the Arab world, as well as a bridge between Europe and Africa. A bridge over troubled waters and troubled countries,” he added.
