Parliament reverses its 2020 decisions

On Tuesday, 20 October 2026, the eastern-based House of Representatives approved unanimously the maritime delimitation memorandum that Turkey and the Tripoli-based Government of National Accord signed on 27 November 2019. The accord was signed by Recep Tayyip Erdogan and then-prime minister Fayez al-Sarraj. In the same vote, deputies unanimously repealed two resolutions from 2020: resolution No. 1, which had rejected ratification of the Turkey-Tripoli accords, and resolution No. 6, which had cut political relations with Turkey. Al Jazeera notes that the decision came six years after the earlier rejection. The memorandum sets out each side's maritime jurisdiction in the eastern Mediterranean, a region valued for offshore energy exploration.

Turkey's outreach to Haftar

Ankara's turn toward eastern Libya predates the vote by months. Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan visited Tripoli and Benghazi on 11 and 12 August 2026, where he met Khalifa Haftar, his sons and then-speaker Aguila Saleh, according to To Vima. Al Jazeera links the shift to military-to-military contacts with Haftar's Libyan National Army, including a July deal to develop military facilities and advanced surveillance systems. Greek outlets in.gr and Naftemporiki report that Saddam Haftar, Khalifa Haftar's son, pushed in early October to replace Saleh with a Tobruk lawmaker seen as close to Ankara. To Vima also credits pressure from the United States government on the terms of a political settlement in Libya. Tarek al-Jeroushi, a lawmaker in the eastern-backed parliament, defended the vote in national terms.

“Some countries may be upset by this agreement, but what matters to us is our national interest.”

Al Jazeera reports that al-Jeroushi also said the agreement would strengthen Libya's position as a political, military and economic partner to key powers.

Athens rejects the decision

The Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs rejected the House decision on Tuesday and described the memorandum as misnamed and void. In its statement, the ministry said:

“This decision does not alter the illegal, void and baseless character of the memorandum, which contravenes the international law of the sea.”

According to the ministry, Turkey and Libya have no opposite or adjacent coasts that could provide a legal basis for the delimitation, and the memorandum disregards Greek islands and their rights under UNCLOS and customary law. Greece cites its own delimitation agreements with Egypt and Italy and says it has informed its partners and allies. Al Jazeera reports that Greece and Cyprus denounced the 2019 agreement as a serious breach of international law. Naftemporiki links the timing to the start of hydrocarbon exploration south of Crete in two blocks of Greek interest, in which Chevron is involved, and calls the moment especially sensitive for Athens.

Opposition criticism in Athens

Rena Dourou, president of the SYRIZA parliamentary group, launched a sharp attack on Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and the government's foreign policy. Her statement said:

“The approval of the illegal and void Turkish-Libyan memorandum constitutes yet another serious fiasco of New Democracy's foreign policy.”

Dourou argued that the government failed to pursue the one path she considers grounded in international law, referral of the dispute to the International Court of Justice in The Hague through a special agreement between Greece and Libya. She also said Libya has acceded to the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, unlike Turkey, and that Athens had not used that fact. She called for a shift in Greek foreign policy toward international law and the defence of national interests.