After EU rebuff, how Turkey is courting Egypt for maritime deal
Turkey’s renewed push for a maritime deal with Egypt in a bid to ease Cairo’s objections to its maritime agreement with Libya, faces an uphill battle.
ANKARA — Turkey’s renewed push for a maritime agreement with Egypt faces an uphill battle as Cairo seeks to preserve its rapprochement with Ankara without unsettling its partnerships with Greece, Cyprus and the European Union.
Turkey’s Defense Ministry on Wednesday reiterated that Ankara was ready to sign a maritime delimitation agreement with Egypt, echoing a similar statement by Turkish Defense Minister Yasar Guler last week.
The renewed Turkish push on a potential Egypt deal follows disagreements over the Libyan eastern-based parliament’s Oct. 20 ratification of the 2019 Turkey-Libya maritime deal, which Egypt opposes, saying it infringes on its exclusive economic zone and continental shelf. Ankara hopes a separate agreement with Cairo could help address Egypt’s concerns over maritime boundaries and ease its opposition to the Libya deal.
Signed with Libya’s Tripoli-based Government of National Accord, the 2019 agreement establishes a maritime boundary between the two countries extending from Turkey’s southwestern coast and Libya’s northeastern coastline. In addition to Egypt, Greece also opposes the agreement, arguing it disregards the Greek islands’ maritime rights.
