Any plan excluding Turkey in the Eastern Mediterranean is impossible, and Turkey will not shrink from steps needed to stand with the Libyan government and its people, said Turkey’s presidential spokesman on Dec. 24.
“Turkey will continue to support Libya’s legitimate, internationally recognized government, and will not forsake the Libyan people,” İbrahim Kalın told reporters following a Cabinet meeting at the presidential complex.
Turkey on Nov. 27 signed maritime boundary and security cooperation pacts with Libya’s Tripoli-based, internationally recognized Government of National Accord (GNA), spurning moves by other countries to carve up the Eastern Mediterranean without Turkish participation.
Dismissing the criticism of the maritime deal between Turkey and Libya, Kalın said that the pact contains nothing to disturb third parties.
When Israel, Egypt, Greece, and the Greek Cypriot administration met and made deals on a project in the Eastern Mediterranean excluding Turkey, no one questioned this, Kalın said.
Criticizing parties that question the legitimacy of the maritime deal, Kalın stressed that nobody questions the deals between Libya’s GNA with Italy and France.
On Russias, Egyptian, and UAE support for Libyan commander Khalifa Haftar — who leads forces opposed to the GNA — Kalın stressed that this does not contribute to peace in the country.
Since the ouster of late leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, two seats of power have emerged in Libya: one in eastern Libya supported mainly by Egypt and the United Arab Emirates, and another in Tripoli, which enjoys UN and international recognition.
