Eastern Libya's Parliament Approves Turkiye Maritime Deal: A New Equation in the Eastern Mediterranean

Once adversaries, Turkiye and the leadership of eastern Libya are now building closer political and military ties. After years of opposition, the eastern-based parliament in Tobruk recently approved the maritime boundary agreement signed in 2019 between Turkiye and the internationally recognised government based in the Libyan capital, Tripoli.

The agreement delineates the maritime jurisdiction areas claimed by Turkiye and Libya in the Mediterranean. Greece, Cyprus and Egypt have argued that it infringes on their sovereign rights, while Turkiye maintains that it complies with international law.

A senior Turkish official said eastern Libya's leaders had come to recognise Ankara's intentions. “Turkiye is not there to use Libya for its own purposes,” the official said. “From the very beginning, we have supported a policy of one Libya,” he added, stressing that the country's stability and resources should benefit all Libyans.

Turkiye helped repel the 2019-2020 offensive on Tripoli by forces loyal to eastern military commander Khalifa Haftar. Since then, Ankara has expanded its relations with the eastern camp while maintaining ties with Tripoli.

The senior official said Turkish security personnel based in Tripoli had remained in contact with eastern Libyan forces even during the confrontation. “There has actually been no change in our policy. Only the results it has produced have changed,” the official said.

The diplomatic outreach has been accompanied by military and intelligence contacts. In May, Defence Minister Yasar Guler met Saddam Haftar, Khalifa Haftar's son, and Abdulsalam al-Zoubi, a senior defence official in the Tripoli-based government.

Turkish intelligence chief Ibrahim Kalin also met Saddam Haftar in Benghazi on 23 June. Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan followed in August, meeting both Khalifa and Saddam Haftar.

A change in the eastern parliament's leadership also preceded the maritime vote. On 6 October, lawmakers replaced Aguila Saleh as speaker with Al-Salhin Abdelnabi al-Obeidi, who previously chaired the Libyan-Turkish parliamentary friendship committee.

Galip Dalay, a senior research fellow at Chatham House, sees Ankara's engagement with its former adversaries as a strategic gain. “This is not merely a pragmatic or tactical gain. It is a strategic gain for Turkiye,” he said. In his view, closer relations with both Libyan camps make it harder to build Eastern Mediterranean energy and security arrangements that exclude Turkiye.

Political calculations within the Haftar camp also lie behind the rapprochement, according to Tarek Megerisi, a visiting fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations. He believes Saddam Haftar hopes Ankara's influence could strengthen his own political prospects, with many believing he eventually wants to lead Libya.

Anas El Gomati, director of the Sadeq Institute, cautioned that an understanding between Libya's rival leaders would not necessarily produce an inclusive political settlement. “An elite bargain between two camps can leave out everyone beyond them,” he said.

Representatives of both Libyan camps held talks in Ankara on Friday about unifying their military structures, according to Libyan media reports. Differences over political oversight remain unresolved, and no final agreement has been announced.

The eastern parliament's reversal has also complicated Egypt's position. Cairo has traditionally supported the eastern leadership but opposes the maritime agreement that the east has now endorsed.

On 22 October, Greek Foreign Minister Giorgos Gerapetritis announced discussions with Egypt on extending their partial 2020 maritime delimitation agreement eastwards towards Cyprus. Four days later, on 26 October, Egypt joined Greece, Cyprus, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and the European Union in a statement at the United Nations rejecting the Turkiye-Libya accord.

Yet Cairo and Ankara have continued rebuilding their relationship. Turkiye's land forces commander, General Metin Tokel, arrived in Egypt on Monday for an official visit. Turkiye's Defence Ministry has also announced a joint naval exercise in Alexandria from 4 to 9 November.

On Wednesday, Turkiye's Ministry of National Defence renewed its offer to sign a maritime boundary agreement with Cairo, arguing that Egypt could gain more than 15,000 square kilometres (5,790 square miles) of maritime jurisdiction — a figure that is Ankara's estimate — compared with a potential further agreement with Greece, with which Cairo signed a partial maritime deal in 2020.

Greece maintains that the maritime agreement disregards the rights of its islands, including Crete. Turkiye rejects those claims, arguing that islands should not automatically receive the same weight as mainland coastlines when mapping maritime boundaries and exclusive economic zones.

Megerisi said the eastern parliament's approval strengthens the agreement's domestic legal footing but does little to resolve the wider dispute among the countries of the Eastern Mediterranean. The vote gives Ankara greater political leverage, he argued, but it does not settle competing maritime claims or clear the way for offshore energy exploration.