A joint letter, a response to an earlier letter from Greece on the so-called Turcolibian memorandum, was sent to the UN by Ankara and the Libyan caretaker government.
As reported by the Turkish Anadolu Agency, the letter from Turkey's representative to the UN, Feridoun Sinirlioglu and Libya's permanent representative to the UN, Taher El-Sonni, to the UN Secretariat states that "the Libyan Government of National Unity, contrary to the allegations of Greece, has the power to conclude and denounce international agreements and that its laws authorize the government to conclude agreements with other states".
"Greece's claims that the agreement signed by Libya and Turkey in the hydrocarbons sector contradicts the political process under UN control have no legal basis and instead the roadmap leading to a political solution in Libya gives the government full authority in the process of preparing for elections," the letter said.
"The authority for both internal and external issues belongs to the Government of National Unity of Libya," it added.
It is argued that Greece has deliberately ignored the agreements of many states, including the European Union, with the Libyan government in the fields of energy, infrastructure and economy and that no country, including Greece, has the right to interfere in agreements between sovereign states.
According to the letter, the agreement between Turkey and Libya on the delimitation of maritime jurisdiction areas, signed on 27 November 2019, was notified to the UN under Article 102 of the Charter and a just solution was reached under international law. It is also argued that Greece's claims that the said agreement violated its sovereign rights are inadmissible.
It is further stated that "a similar agreement between Greece and Egypt, following the memorandum between Turkey and Libya on the delimitation of maritime jurisdictional areas, in the area in question is invalid."
It is also stated that "a similar agreement between Greece and Egypt, following the memorandum between Turkey and Libya on the delimitation of maritime jurisdictional areas, in the area in question is invalid.
The letter also states that Greece is ignoring the sovereign rights of Turkey and Libya with its expansive claims on the issue of maritime jurisdiction in the area and that it is interpreting maritime law and international law as it sees fit.
It is alleged that "Greece does not take into account the principle of equality in the delimitation of maritime jurisdiction areas and behaves as an archipelagic state, violating the law and demanding the granting of maritime jurisdiction to islands, islets and rocky islets regardless of their location, their size, whether they are inhabited or not and their economic viability".
The agreements, according to the letter, signed between Turkey and Libya on the delimitation of hydrocarbons and maritime jurisdictions do not violate either international law or Greece's sovereign rights. It is also claimed that Greece is trying to "discredit" the efforts of Libya and Turkey to promote dialogue in the Mediterranean against the UN.
Source: CNA
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