Greece, Cyprus and Israel Reject Turkey-Libya Maritime Deal

Greece, Cyprus and Israel jointly rejected the Turkey-Libya maritime memorandum on 5 November 2026, following a trilateral meeting in Athens. The three countries pledged to deepen defence cooperation and develop weapons together.

Athens had already filed formal UN objections the day before. Greece logged its latest challenge to the Turkey-Libya memorandum on the United Nations record on 4 November. Greece also plans to issue a Navtex (a maritime safety broadcast) for a cable survey in waters Turkey says fall within its claimed zone.

The October vote by Libya's eastern parliament set it off. After Libya's eastern parliament approved the 2019 Turkey maritime memorandum, Greece, Cyprus and Israel moved to coordinate their response. The Athens summit formalised that alignment.

The costs are real. A $2.1 billion energy project is at risk as NATO allies hold conflicting claims over who controls what waters in the Eastern Mediterranean. The United States weighed in on 2 November, calling the Turkey-Libya deal "unhelpful" and "provocative" toward Crete.

The 2019 memorandum drew a straight corridor between Turkey and Libya that cuts across waters Greece, Cyprus and Egypt argue they hold under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. The Athens meeting put three UNCLOS claimants on record together against two.