Türkiye, Libya sign hydrocarbon deal, Çavuşoğlu says

ANKARA

Türkiye and Libya have signed a memorandum of understanding in the field of hydrocarbons and are likely to conclude another one on gas, the Turkish top diplomat has said, vowing the continued support from Türkiye to the war-torn North African country.

“We signed a protocol on hydrocarbons, and a deal on gas is being negotiated between our energy ministries,” Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said at a press conference with Libyan Foreign Minister Najla Mangoush on Oct. 3 in Tripoli.

A senior Turkish delegation that included Foreign Minister Çavuşoğlu, Defense Minister Hulusi Akar, Energy and Natural Resources Minister Fatih Dönmez, Trade Minister Mehmet Muş, Presidential Communications Director Fahrettin Altun and presidential spokesperson İbrahim Kalın paid a one-day snap visit to Tripoli.

“The hydrocarbon agreement we have just signed aims cooperation between Turkish companies and Libyan companies, such as exploration and drilling both on land at sea, with a win-win understanding,” he said.

Çavuşoğlu said there were many draft deals to be completed in many different areas, indicating the level of cooperation and bilateral relations.
“We are going to stand with Libya without any hesitation,” the Turkish minister stressed, adding that Ankara does discriminate between east and west Libya, which are being run by rival internal groups. Türkiye has long been supporting the U.N.-recognized National Government of Accord in Libya but recently had meetings with the eastern administration as well.

“Libya, with its west, south, east, is a very precious country for us. We will continue to support the Libyan people.”

All the littoral countries should equally benefit from the Mediterranean and its energy resources, Çavuşoğlu said, recalling the Ankara-Libya agreement on the demarcation of maritime boundaries in late 2019.

“Third countries have no right to interfere in an agreement signed by two countries,” he said, referring to Greece who criticized the deal for violating its own sovereign rights in the Mediterranean. The agreement is valid, he noted, calling on Libya to mark its own territorial waters and register them to the U.N.

He also said there were plans for the resumption of flights by Turkish Airlines to Libya.