After years of rejection, the parliament in eastern Libya adopts a memorandum of understanding on the “maritime borders” with Türkiye

The Libyan House of Representatives in the east of the country voted, on Tuesday, in favor of adopting the memorandum of understanding signed between the Government of National Accord and Turkey in 2019, related to the maritime borders between the two countries, a memorandum that sparked sharp criticism from Egypt. House of Representatives spokesman, Abdullah Belhaq, said on his Facebook account: “The House of Representatives voted unanimously to adopt the memorandum of understanding signed between the Government of National Accord and the Government of the Republic of Turkey on defining areas of maritime jurisdiction in the Mediterranean Sea.”

He also added that the Council voted unanimously "to cancel House of Representatives Resolution No. (1) of 2020 AD regarding refusing to ratify the two memorandums of understanding concluded between the Government of National Accord and the Turkish government and House of Representatives Resolution No. (6) of 2020 AD regarding severing political relations with the Republic of Turkey." The Libyan House of Representatives ousted its former president, Aguila Saleh, earlier this month, and elected Al-Salehin Abdul Nabi, the new Speaker of the Council, during a session on the 7th of this month.

In 2019, the former Government of National Accord in Tripoli signed a memorandum of understanding with Türkiye, which sparked official protests from Egypt and Greece and reached the corridors of the United Nations via protest notes. The Libyan House of Representatives refused to adopt the memorandum over the years when Aguila Saleh was at the head of the legislative authority, before it was approved in today’s session.

The Council's decision comes within a remarkable rapprochement between Türkiye and the authorities in eastern Libya, accompanied by the conclusion of many cooperation agreements. During the campaign of the commander of the eastern Libyan forces on Tripoli in 2019, the Government of National Accord received political and military support from Ankara.