Eastern Libya parliament approves 2019 maritime deal with Turkiye

The vote recognises Ankara’s maritime deal with Tripoli, ending Haftar’s 2020 boycott.

Security forces stand guard outside the parliament building, in Tobruk, Libya, February 10, 2022 [File: Esam Omran Al-Fetori/AP Photo]

Libya’s eastern-based parliament, backed by military commander Khalifa Haftar, which runs as an alternative to the UN-recognised legislature in Tripoli, has approved a maritime deal with Turkiye, ending years of acrimony.

Haftar’s Benghazi-based government said in a statement on Tuesday that his Tobruk-based House of Representatives voted unanimously to approve the 2019 memorandum of understanding signed between Turkiye and Libya’s UN-recognised former Government of National Accord (GNA) on the delimitation of maritime boundaries between the two countries in the Mediterranean Sea.

Specialised committees presented a full and detailed explanation of the deal’s provisions, lawmaker Aisha al-Tabalqi told the Reuters news agency.

The approval came six years after the same parliament ⁠in 2020 unanimously rejected the ratification of the deal and cut political ties with Ankara.

The repealing of those moves on Tuesday consolidates a strategic shift in the works since last year, building on Ankara’s military-to-military contacts with Haftar’s self-styled Libyan National Army (LNA), including a deal in July to develop military facilities and advanced surveillance systems.

The LNA, long believed to have been supported by Egypt and other regional powers, has been in conflict with forces loyal to the Tripoli-based government since the start of the Libyan civil war in 2014.

In 2019, Turkiye signed an agreement with the Tripoli-based government delineating the maritime boundaries between the two countries in the Mediterranean, triggering protests from Greece and Cyprus.

Reacting to the latest announcement on Tuesday, Greece’s Foreign Ministry said the ‌2019 memorandum violated international law of the sea and infringed on the sovereign rights of states in the region, calling on Libya to refrain from actions ⁠that undermine stability in ⁠the Mediterranean.

Athens said it had informed partners and allies and ‌would take all appropriate measures to safeguard its sovereign ‌rights.

Earlier, Tarek al-Jeroushi, a lawmaker in the eastern-backed parliament said “some countries may be upset by this ⁠agreement, but what matters to us is our national interest”. He added that the ⁠agreement would strengthen Libya’s position as a political, military and economic partner to key powers.

In December 2019, Haftar’s LNA had nearly encircled Tripoli, threatening to overrun the UN-recognised GNA, which at the time was led by Fayez al-Sarraj, before Turkiye decided to intervene, sending military advisers and drones to stop the LNA, and altering the trajectory of the Libyan civil war.

Seven years later, there is talk of Ankara setting up a military presence in areas under the control of Haftar’s LNA.

This eastern pivot is designed to secure Turkiye’s long-term geopolitical and economic interests, preserving its influence in Libya regardless of future political settlements between the government and eastern authorities.

此次投票承认了安卡拉与的黎波里达成的海上协议，结束了哈夫塔尔在2020年的抵制行动。

2022年2月10日，安全部队在利比亚托布鲁克议会大楼外站岗。[图片：Esam Omran Al-Fetori/AP Photo]

利比亚东部议会由军事指挥官哈利法·哈夫塔尔支持，作为联合国承认的位于的黎波里的立法机构的替代机构，该议会批准了与土耳其的海上协议，结束了多年的敌对状态。

哈夫塔尔位于班加西的政府周二发表声明称，他领导的位于托布鲁克的众议院一致投票通过了2019年土耳其与利比亚联合国承认的前民族团结政府（GNA）签署的关于划定两国在地中海海上边界的谅解备忘录。

议员艾莎·塔巴尔基告诉路透社，专门委员会对该协议的条款进行了全面详细的解释。

六年前，同一议会在 2020 年一致否决了该协议的批准，并切断了与安卡拉的政治联系。如今，该协议终于获得批准。

周二撤销这些举措巩固了自去年以来一直在酝酿的战略转变，这一转变建立在安卡拉与哈夫塔尔自封的利比亚国民军（LNA）之间的军事接触之上，其中包括7月份达成的一项开发军事设施和先进监视系统的协议。

长期以来，人们一直认为利比亚国民军得到了埃及和其他地区强国的支持。自 2014 年利比亚内战爆发以来，利比亚国民军一直与效忠于的黎波里政府的部队发生冲突。

2019 年，土耳其与的黎波里政府签署了一项协议，划定了两国在地中海的海洋边界，引发了希腊和塞浦路斯的抗议。

针对周二的最新声明，希腊外交部表示，2019 年的备忘录违反了国际海洋法，侵犯了该地区国家的主权权利，并呼吁利比亚停止破坏地中海稳定的行动。

雅典方面表示，已将此事告知合作伙伴和盟友，并将采取一切适当措施维护其主权权利。

此前，东部支持的议会议员塔里克·杰鲁希表示，“一些国家可能会对这项协议感到不满，但对我们来说，重要的是我们的国家利益”。他还补充说，这项协议将加强利比亚作为主要大国的政治、军事和经济伙伴的地位。

2019 年 12 月，哈夫塔尔领导的利比亚国民军几乎包围了的黎波里，威胁要攻占联合国承认的民族团结政府（当时由法耶兹·萨拉杰领导），之后土耳其决定进行干预，派遣军事顾问和无人机阻止利比亚国民军，从而改变了利比亚内战的走向。

七年后，有传言称安卡拉将在哈夫塔尔领导的利比亚国民军控制区建立军事存在。

这一向东的战略转向旨在确保土耳其的长期地缘政治和经济利益，无论利比亚政府与东部当局之间未来达成何种政治协议，土耳其都将保持其在利比亚的影响力。