Greece today submitted a letter to the UN Secretary-General formally protesting the Turkey-Libya Memorandum of Understanding, which it rejects as illegal under international law. The letter was submitted by Greece’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Aglaia Balta, and is dated October 22, 2026.
As stated in the letter: “The Memorandum was concluded despite the fact that Turkey and Libya have neither adjacent nor opposite coastlines and, consequently, share no common maritime boundary. It completely ignores the existence of numerous Greek islands, including Crete and the Dodecanese, as well as their right to generate maritime zones beyond the territorial sea. The resulting delimitation constitutes a blatant reshaping of geography, contrary to the international law of the sea as reflected in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, as well as to established delimitation practice. The Memorandum is therefore illegal under international law, and its recent purported ratification by the Libyan House of Representatives can neither confer legal validity upon it nor alter its legal character as null and void and without legal effect. Accordingly, Greece rejects the Memorandum in its entirety.”
The letter also references all protest communications previously submitted by Greece to the United Nations, beginning with the letter dated December 9, 2019, when the Tripoli-based government and Turkey concluded the Turkey-Libya Memorandum agreement.
The letter further states that “Greece wishes to underline that any act purportedly adopted pursuant to the present Memorandum — including the bill for its ratification — as well as any act purportedly based on the illegal coordinates contained therein, is contrary to international law and devoid of legal effect. In this context, Greece reiterates its objection and strongly protests the conclusion of the ‘Memorandum of Understanding between the Government of the Republic of Turkey and the Government of National Unity of the State of Libya on Cooperation in the Field of Hydrocarbons’, signed on October 3, 2022, insofar as it aims to implement the 2019 Memorandum or is otherwise based on the purported delimitation contained therein. Greece further underlines that any action taken in the context of the purported implementation of the Memorandum signed on October 3, 2022 that affects Greece’s sovereign rights or jurisdiction constitutes a violation of international law, in respect of which Greece reserves its rights.
In light of the above, the ratification of the 2019 Memorandum does not, and shall not, affect any rights afforded to Greece under international law, nor the positions Greece has expressed regarding Libya’s maritime zone claims that are contrary to international law. In particular, with regard to the ‘official position of Libya on the outer limits of its continental shelf in the Mediterranean Sea’ (including the relevant coordinates and map contained in the annex to the verbal note dated May 27, 2025, from the Permanent Mission of Libya to the United Nations to the Secretary-General (A/79/916)), Greece considers Libya’s claims to be unsubstantiated and legally unfounded. In this context, Greece reiterates its position as expressed in the verbal note dated September 3, 2025, from the Permanent Mission of Greece to the United Nations to the Secretary-General (A/79/1005). Finally, while reserving all its rights, Greece reiterates its strong commitment to resolving any maritime delimitation issue with neighboring countries in the Mediterranean by peaceful means, in good faith and in accordance with the international law of the sea, as demonstrated by the maritime delimitation agreements it has concluded with Italy and Egypt.”
Read the letter submitted by Greece to the UN regarding the Turkey-Libya memorandum
