Turkey: the so-called maritime agreement is "null and void"

Shafaq News / Egypt and Greece signed, on Thursday, an agreement to demarcate the maritime borders between the two countries, aiming to coordinate efforts to take advantage of the resources of the eastern Mediterranean region, which Turkey considered an "invalid" agreement for it.

The Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that Minister Sameh Shoukry received his Greek counterpart, Nikos Dundas, in Cairo, to discuss ways to strengthen bilateral relations between both countries.

After the meeting, the two ministers signed the agreement, which comes amid tensions in the eastern Mediterranean region due to illegal Turkish moves to search for energy resources.

In a press conference after the signing, Shoukry said that the agreement, "allows Egypt and Greece to move forward in maximizing the utilization of the wealth of each other's exclusive economic zone, especially oil and gas reserves".

On the other hand, the Greek minister said, "there is complete and continuous communication between the two countries at the highest levels", considering the agreement which was signed last year between Turkey and Tripoli's government to demarcate the maritime borders, "not legal", adding, "We will face all the challenges in cooperation with Egypt".

For his part, the Turkish minister of Foreign affairs said, on Thursday evening, that the so-called maritime agreement is "null and void" for Ankara.

In a statement reported by Anadolu Agency, the Turkish Ministry indicated that the so-called "maritime border demarcation" agreement, signed between Egypt and Greece, is invalid, adding that the Egypt-Greece deal falls in its continental shelf.

The ministry said that Turkey considers the agreement null and void, adding that it also violates Libyan maritime rights.