Egypt–Greece maritime deal

Egypt and Greece signed in summer 2020 a maritime treaty creating an exclusive economic zone for oil and gas drilling rights in the Mediterranean sea. The deal establishes “partial demarcation of the sea boundaries between the two countries, and that the remaining demarcation would be achieved through consultations.”[1]

Egypt-Greece maritime deal
TypeBoundary delimitation
Signed6 August 2020
LocationCairo, Egypt
Effective10 October 2020
Signatories
Parties
DepositariesUnited Nations United Nations Secretariat
LanguagesArabic, Greek, English

The Egyptian foreign minister Sameh Shoukry and his Greek counterpart Nikos Dendias signed the deal in Cairo on 6 August as a response to the 2019 Libya (GNA)–Turkey maritime deal.[2][3] It was ratified by the Egyptian president Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi on October 10 and the Greek Parliament on August 27.[4] On 2 September, the treaty was submitted to the United Nations Secretariat.[5]

In March 2021, after Turkey expressed its will to make an agreement on maritime borders with Egypt, the latter discussed cooperation in Eastern Mediterranean with Greece and aimed for further coordination in other areas such as economic, military and security matters.[6]

Turkish response

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called the Egypt-Greece deal “worthless",[7] while the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs made a press release stating: "A maritime boundary between Greece and Egypt does not exist. With respect to Turkey, the so-called maritime delimitation agreement signed today is null and void. This understanding will reflect on the ground and at the table."[8]

Turkey is not a signatory to the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, which defined the exclusive economic zone of Greece in 1982.

See also

References
  1. "Egypt ratifies maritime deal with Greece | Kathimerini". www.ekathimerini.com. Retrieved 2020-12-16.
  2. Reuters Staff (2020-08-06). "Egypt and Greece sign agreement on exclusive economic zone". Reuters. Retrieved 2020-12-16. {{cite news}}: |author= has generic name (help)
  3. "Egypt, Greece sign maritime deal to counter Libya-Turkey one". AP NEWS. 2020-08-06. Retrieved 2020-12-16.
  4. "Egypt ratifies maritime deal with Greece | Kathimerini". www.ekathimerini.com. Retrieved 2020-12-16.
  5. "Agreement between the Government of the Hellenic Republic and the Government of the Arab Republic of Egypt on the delimitation of the exclusive economic zone between the two countries". United Nations Treaty Collection. Retrieved 14 June 2021.
  6. "Egypt and Greece discuss cooperation in eastern Mediterranean". Arab News. 2021-03-05. Retrieved 2021-03-05.
  7. Magdy | AP, Samy. "Egypt's lawmakers approve maritime deal with Greece". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2020-12-16.
  8. "From Rep. of Turkey Ministry of Foreign Affairs". Republic of Turkey Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Retrieved 2020-12-16.
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