Mediterranean maritime demarcation deal mooted
Mevlut Cavusoglu, the Turkish Foreign Minister, has suggested that Ankara and Cairo sign a maritime treaty if relations between the two countries continue to improve.
The Turkish Foreign Minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu, has suggested that Turkey and Egypt may sign a maritime demarcation deal following increased energy exploration in the eastern Mediterranean. The two countries have traded insults and accusations for years, but relations have thawed in recent months.
Potential offshore resources are hotly contested in the region and Turkey says Egypt has won its respects by not infringing on Turkey’s portion of the continental shelf. The mooting of a maritime treaty comes a year after Egypt and Greece signed a similar deal, and two years after Turkey signed a deal with Libya’s Tripoli-based Government of National Accord.
Cavusoglu said: ” As the two countries with the longest coastlines in the eastern Mediterranean, if our ties and the conditions allow it, we can also negotiate a maritime demarcation deal with Egypt and sign it amongst ourselves”.
