Italy, Cyprus say Turkey-Libya maritime deal ‘unacceptable’

A maritime border agreement between Turkey and Libya's UN-backed government is "unacceptable," violates international law and flouts the sovereign rights of other countries, the foreign ministers of Italy and Cyprus said Wednesday.

Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio and his Cypriot counterpart Nikos Christodoulides said in a joint statement after talks in Rome that the deal cannot have any legal impact on other countries.

Turkey says the deal grants its economic rights to a large swath of the east Mediterranean sea and prevents any energy-related projects from moving forward without Ankara's consent.

One such project that Israel, Cyprus and Greece had agreed on earlier this month is an envisioned undersea pipeline ferrying natural gas discovered in the east Mediterranean to European markets.

A feasibility study is being carried out on the project...