Eastern Libya Approves Turkey Maritime Deal, Scrapping 2020 Boycott
Key takeaways: Libya’s eastern parliament has unanimously backed a maritime boundary agreement with Turkey, scrapping its 2020 rejection of the deal and its political boycott of Ankara — a striking reversal for the east, once Turkey’s fiercest Libyan rival.
Libya’s eastern parliament on Tuesday voted to approve a maritime deal with Turkey, overturning a boycott it imposed on Ankara in 2020 and endorsing an agreement that reshapes maritime claims in the eastern Mediterranean. Lawmakers in Benghazi also voted to restore political relations with Turkey, reversing a rupture that dates back to Libya’s divided administrations.
Two Libyan lawmakers told Reuters the parliament’s backing of the deal carries strategic advantages for the country across economic, political and national security affairs. The agreement itself was signed in November 2019 between Turkey and Libya’s then internationally recognised Government of National Accord in Tripoli, delimiting maritime jurisdiction areas in the Mediterranean.
The 2019 deal was rejected at the time by authorities in eastern Libya, and drew objections from Egypt and Greece — which argue it infringes on their own maritime rights — sparking the boycott that Tuesday’s vote now unwinds. On Tuesday, the House of Representatives unanimously repealed Resolution No. 1 of 2020, which had rejected ratification of the maritime and security memorandums, and Resolution No. 6 of 2020, which called for severing political ties with Ankara, according to a statement released in Benghazi.
Lawmaker Tarek al-Jeroushi told Reuters the agreement would strengthen Libya’s position as “a political, military and economic partner to major powers,” adding: “Some countries may be upset by this agreement, but what matters to us is our national interest.” His colleague Aisha al-Tabalqi said lawmakers approved the deal after specialised committees presented what she described as a full and detailed explanation of its provisions.
The reversal is significant because of who is making it. Libya remains split between rival western and eastern administrations: the east is aligned with military commander Khalifa Haftar, whose forces once fought the Tripoli government that signed the 2019 deal — and Turkey was a major backer of that Tripoli government. For the east to now endorse Ankara’s maritime agreement marks a genuine realignment, not merely a procedural cleanup.
The deal has long been a pillar of Turkey’s regional maritime policy, defining the boundaries of its Mediterranean claims. Athens and Cairo are likely to react sharply, as both previously treated the agreement as an infringement on their exclusive economic zones. The next test will be whether Tuesday’s vote accelerates reconciliation between Libya’s rival administrations — or deepens the east’s drift into new alliances that complicate the Mediterranean dispute further. Ankara has spent years courting the east alongside its western allies — and Tuesday’s vote suggests that patience is paying off.
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