The governments of Egypt and Greece refused to sign two memorandums of understanding with Turkey in the field of hydrocarbon resources, to conduct exploration and exploration for gas and oil.

The Egyptian Foreign Ministry said in a statement that “Minister Sameh Shukri and his Greek counterpart Nikos Dendias confirmed that the outgoing unity government in Tripoli does not have the authority to conclude any international agreements or memorandums of understanding.”

At a press conference with his Libyan counterpart Najla Al-Mankush during the signing of the agreement in Tripoli, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu noted that “The hydrocarbon agreement just signed aims to establish cooperation between Turkish and Libyan companies in the field of exploration and exploration, according to concepts of mutual benefit on land, at sea and in areas of maritime jurisdiction.

The dispute between the authorities of Egypt, Greece and Turkey dates back to November 2018, when Ankara signed a “maritime powers” ​​agreement with the former Libyan Government of National Accord.

In practice, the agreement will open up more areas for Turkey to explore for energy in the Mediterranean, in areas that Greece and Cyprus have mentioned as belonging to them. Egypt had previously called it “illegal”.

On Monday, Davutoglu explained that “there may be misunderstandings regarding the agreement on the zone of maritime jurisdiction. This is an agreement signed between two sovereign countries, and it is valid.” He added: “Moreover, Turkey and Libya have informed the UN of the signing of the agreement, and we have registered the boundaries of our continental shelf with the UN, and now Libya must determine its continental shelf and areas of its maritime jurisdiction and register them with the United Nations.”

The signing of two MoUs between Ankara and Tripoli coincides with tensions between Egypt and Libya’s unity government, despite a period of calm and rapprochement between the two sides in recent months.

Turkey has enjoyed great prestige with the ruling forces in western Libya since it provided military support to the Government of National Accord (GNA) in repulsing the attack by the commander of forces in eastern Libya, retired General Khalifa Haftar, on the capital Tripoli in 2019.