Back to the complete issue
Monday, 2 December 2019

Turkey’s interference in Libya is bad for political settlement -Egyptian, Greek FMs

Turkey’s interference in Libya is counterproductive for political settlement, say Egyptian, Greek FMs: Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry and his Greek counterpart Nikos Dendias agreed in a meeting in Cairo yesterday that the “negative” Turkish intervention in Libya goes against ongoing international efforts to reach a political settlement in the civil war-torn North African country, Shoukry’s ministry said in a statement. The two ministers also agreed to speed up the process of creating exclusive economic zones (EEZs) in sea water near their borders, the Associated Press quoted Dendias as saying following the meeting. Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, meanwhile, says he will ask other NATO members for support in countering Turkey’s attempt to encroach on his country’s sovereignty, according to the newswire.

What exactly did Turkey do? Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Libya’s Tripoli-based Prime Minister Fayez Al Serraj signed two MoUs on security and maritime cooperation that have drawn sharp criticism from Egypt, Greece, and Cyprus for their potential to pave the way for sea border demarcation agreements that may disregard the rights of other Mediterranean countries. The MoUs were seen as violating international law conventions. Egypt’s cabinet said in a statement last Thursday that the MoUs are lacking in legal bearing since the 2015 Skhirat peace agreement made it clear that Al Serraj cannot enter into legally-binding international agreements without the remainder of Libya’s cabinet on board.

Enterprise is a daily publication of Enterprise Ventures LLC, an Egyptian limited liability company (commercial register 83594), and a subsidiary of Inktank Communications. Summaries are intended for guidance only and are provided on an as-is basis; kindly refer to the source article in its original language prior to undertaking any action. Neither Enterprise Ventures nor its staff assume any responsibility or liability for the accuracy of the information contained in this publication, whether in the form of summaries or analysis. © 2022 Enterprise Ventures LLC.

Enterprise is available without charge thanks to the generous support of HSBC Egypt (tax ID: 204-901-715), the leading corporate and retail lender in Egypt; EFG Hermes (tax ID: 200-178-385), the leading financial services corporation in frontier emerging markets; SODIC (tax ID: 212-168-002), a leading Egyptian real estate developer; SomaBay (tax ID: 204-903-300), our Red Sea holiday partner; Infinity (tax ID: 474-939-359), the ultimate way to power cities, industries, and homes directly from nature right here in Egypt; CIRA (tax ID: 200-069-608), the leading providers of K-12 and higher level education in Egypt; Orascom Construction (tax ID: 229-988-806), the leading construction and engineering company building infrastructure in Egypt and abroad; Moharram & Partners (tax ID: 616-112-459), the leading public policy and government affairs partner; Palm Hills Developments (tax ID: 432-737-014), a leading developer of commercial and residential properties; Mashreq (tax ID: 204-898-862), the MENA region’s leading homegrown personal and digital bank; Industrial Development Group (IDG) (tax ID:266-965-253), the leading builder of industrial parks in Egypt; Hassan Allam Properties (tax ID:  553-096-567), one of Egypt’s most prominent and leading builders; and Saleh, Barsoum & Abdel Aziz (tax ID: 220-002-827), the leading audit, tax and accounting firm in Egypt.