Turkey and Libya have signed a new agreement for hydrocarbon exploration in contested waters south of Crete, a direct response to Greece’s own energy plans and a move that significantly escalates tensions in the Eastern Mediterranean.
The deal, unveiled this week by Libya’s National Oil Corporation (NOC) and the state-run Turkish Petroleum Corporation (TPAO), outlines plans for joint seismic surveys in four offshore zones.
The pact is widely seen as a countermeasure to Greece’s decision earlier this month to invite international bids for exploration rights in areas that Libya and Turkey claim under a controversial 2019 maritime border agreement.
While the new pact is a clear political challenge to Athens, Greek diplomatic sources said their initial analysis of a map published by the NOC suggests the designated exploration areas currently lie south of the median line between Greece and Libya, which would keep them outside of Greece’s direct sovereign territory.
Still, officials in Athens remain on high alert.
“Greece will not tolerate any violation of its sovereign rights,” a diplomatic source stressed.
The move follows a sharp rebuke from both of Libya’s rival administrations, which united to condemn Greece’s exploration tender. Libyan authorities also summoned the Greek ambassador in Tripoli, Nikos Garilidis, to formally protest.
Speaking after a brief meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Tuesday, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis reiterated Greece's long-standing position that the 2019 Turkey-Libya memorandum, which ignores the presence of Greek islands like Crete, is “unacceptable, illegal, and baseless.”
The latest developments highlight the fragile geopolitical landscape of the region, where competing energy ambitions continue to fuel long-standing territorial disputes.