Mitsotakis opposes the Turkey-Libya maritime agreement at the UN: It ignores the Greek islands

The Greek government has reiterated its opposition to the maritime boundary agreement between Turkey and Libya, describing it as illegal.

Speaking before members of the UN Security Council, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis used a map to explain Athens’ main objection: he said the maritime boundary drawn by the two countries disregards the Greek islands in the area.

He singled out Crete, Rhodes, Karpathos and Kasos, arguing that Turkey and Libya have no facing or adjacent coastlines to support such a boundary. Mitsotakis described the line as an unprecedented “diagonal” demarcation.

“The rules governing our seas cannot be rewritten to suit the ambitions of individual states. The so-called Turkey-Libya Memorandum on the delimitation of maritime boundaries constitutes a flagrant violation of the fundamental principles of international maritime law. It is illegal. It is arbitrary. And it defies geography itself,” the Greek prime minister said.

The agreement between Turkey and Libya was first signed in 2019, and received approval from the parliament in eastern Libya last week. Athens insists the document is illegal and cannot infringe on its sovereign rights.

“Turkey and Libya have no facing or adjacent coastlines. Yet they have sought to create an artificial maritime boundary between them. It is absurd. There is no precedent for such a diagonal demarcation,” Mitsotakis added.

Ankara, for its part, disagrees with Greece’s position. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said objections to the agreement have no legitimate basis and that Turkey would neutralize anyone trying to prevent it from achieving its objectives.

At the Security Council, the Turkish representative responded to Athens that maps may show a state’s claims, but they do not determine which side is right. Egypt, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates have also spoken out against the agreement, alongside Greece.

Mitsotakis also raised at the Security Council the issue of commercial shipping security from the Black Sea to the Red Sea. His statement came hours after a commercial vessel owned by a Greek company was struck by drones and sank in the Black Sea, near the coast of Bulgaria.