Turkey's Defense Ministry is trying to lure Egypt away from a maritime boundary deal with Greece, claiming Cairo would g...

Turkey's Defense Ministry is trying to lure Egypt away from a maritime boundary deal with Greece, claiming Cairo would gain more than 15,000 square kilometers of additional sea zone by signing with Ankara instead. The offer came in an official ministry statement released this week, framing it as a pitch built on "mutual interests" and international law. Turkey did not provide any calculations or methodology to back up the 15,000 km² figure, and the statement offered no further detail on how that number was reached. Ankara used the occasion of a separate development to boost its pitch. On October 20, the Libyan House of Representatives ratified the Turkey-Libya maritime memorandum of understanding originally signed in 2019, which Turkey called a major development validating its broader approach to Eastern Mediterranean sea boundaries. The Turkey-Libya deal has long been contested by Greece, Cyprus, and Egypt, because it carves a maritime corridor between Turkey and Libya that effectively cuts across areas Greece considers part of its own continental shelf. Athens has rejected the memorandum as legally invalid and incompatible with international law. Turkey's ministry closed the statement by saying Ankara will continue to protect its rights and interests in the Eastern Mediterranean and contribute to "regional peace, security and stability." Greece and Egypt signed their own partial maritime delimitation agreement in 2020, which Ankara opposed at the time. Egypt has not responded publicly to Turkey's latest overture. The proposal puts Cairo in a position where Ankara is openly trying to frame a deal with Greece as the less lucrative option for Egyptian interests. #Turkey #EasternMediterranean #Greece