State Department calls Turkey-Libya maritime deal 'provocative and unhelpful'

The US State Department has called the Turkey-Libya memorandum of understanding (MoU) relating to maritime zones "provocative and unhelpful."

Answering a question posed by the Hellas Journal website, a State Department spokesman noted that the agreement cannot affect the rights or obligations of third states such as Greece.

Washington's support on this matter is deemed as particularly significant at a time that Turkey is directly threatening Greece's rights from the land border at Evros to Crete in the southern Aegean, according to diplomatic sources cited by the news site. 

The spokesman reiterated recent statements by US Assistant Secretary of State for Energy Resources Francis Fannon and US Ambassador Geoffrey Pyatt that Greece's islands have an exclusive economic zone and a continental shelf.

In comments on Tuesday at a virtual roundtable discussion...