Libya's eastern parliament ratifies Turkey maritime deal, boxing out Greek islands

Both of Libya's rival governments have now endorsed Turkey's contested maritime boundary claim after the Haftar-aligned House of Representatives in Benghazi unanimously ratified a memorandum on 20 October that the Tripoli government first signed with Ankara in 2019.

The boundary runs between Crete and Cyprus and, under Turkey's reading, strips Greek islands in the area of any continental shelf or exclusive economic zone beyond their territorial waters. SETA, a think tank close to the Turkish government, said the dual endorsement strengthens Turkey's position in any future maritime delimitation with Greece.

The vote followed a leadership change in the eastern parliament. Aguila Saleh, who had blocked ratification for years, was voted out on 6 October and replaced by Al-Salhin Abdelnabi al-Obeidi, who had chaired the parliament's Libyan-Turkish friendship committee.

Analysts read the ratification as a move by Saddam Haftar — son of Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar and a reported candidate for the presidency of a unified Libya — to secure Turkish support. Tarek Megerisi of the European Council on Foreign Relations said Saddam Haftar was using parliament to curry favour with Turkey. Claudia Gazzini of Crisis Group said Turkish backing for a Saddam presidency was not certain. Oussama Assed, who runs the Libya Center for Strategic and Future Studies in Tripoli, said Ankara could yet put its full weight behind the U.S. plan.

Turkish intelligence chief Ibrahim Kalin was in Tripoli on the day of the vote, where he thanked the new speaker and Saddam Haftar for securing the ratification. Ankara has publicly committed to nothing in return, and Turkish troops in western Libya give it the means to influence any future reunification plan.