Turkey-Libya agreement shakes up eastern Mediterranean

Source:al Monitor Date:03Dec2019

A rare diplomatic victory for Ankara, which could end plans to transport  Israeli-Greek Cypirote gas to Europe through a pipeline

“Turkey is deeply interested in defending its own interpretation of territorial-waters law,” Harchaoui told Al-Monitor. “For that, Turkey needs — in order to bolster its own legal and rhetorical discourse on the international stage — a partner other than Northern Cyprus. That is what Turkey expects of the Government of National Accord in Tripoli.”

“It is not possible to carry out projects in the region by excluding a country with long maritime boundaries in the Eastern Mediterranean,” said Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the opening of the TANAP gas pipeline on Saturday. He added, “We will not withdraw [our] ships and they will continue to operate there.”