Five countries denounce Turkish violations in eastern Mediterranean and military interference in Libya
North-Press Agency
In a virtual meeting that took place on Monday, the foreign ministers of Egypt, Cyprus, Greece, the UAE and France condemned Turkey’s moves in the eastern Mediterranean and the memoranda of understanding between the Turkish government and the Libyan Government of National Accord (GNA) led by Fayez al-Sarraj.
In a joint statement released and published on the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Facebook page, the ministers expressed their concern about the current escalation and the continuous provocations in the eastern Mediterranean.
In the joint statement, they expressed that the current illegal Turkish moves in the sovereign region of the Republic of Cyprus and its territorial waters are considered an explicit violation of international law, according to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.
The statement added that this year, Turkey tried illegally drilling within Cyprus’s marine areas – something the five ministers denounced.
The statement condemned Turkish violations of Greek airspace as well as the systematic exploitation of civilians, who are forced to illegally cross Greek land and sea borders.
The five ministers noted that both the memorandum of understanding to set the maritime borders in the Mediterranean Sea and the memorandum of understanding for military and security cooperation, signed in November 2019 between the Turkish government and the al-Sarraj government, are inconsistent with international law and the UN-imposed arms ban on Libya.
The statement added that the memorandum to set maritime borders violates the sovereign rights of other countries.
The ministers demanded that Turkey fully respect the sovereignty of all countries and their sovereign rights in their maritime territory in the eastern Mediterranean.
The ministers condemned the Turkish military intervention in Libya, urging Turkey to fully respect the arms ban and stop the flow of foreign fighters from Syria to Libya, which poses a threat to the stability of Libya’s neighbors in Africa and to Europe as well.
On January 8th, Egypt, France, Cyprus, Greece, and Italy’s foreign ministers met in Cairo, condemning in the meeting’s closing statement the memoranda of understanding between Turkish government and the GNA, the uncontrolled setting of borders in the Mediterranean Sea, and ongoing Turkish movement in the economic zone of Cyprus and its territorial waters.