Libya

Ankara denounced a recent meeting on Jan. 9 held between Greece, France, the Greek Cypriot administration, Egypt and Italy against a recent maritime delimitation deal between Turkey and Libya.

France, Greece, Egypt and Greek Cyprus on Jan. 8 declared "null and void" agreements between Ankara and Libya assigning Turkey rights over a vast area of the eastern Mediterranean.

Turkish and Greek diplomats will hold their first regular political consultations following a dispute over Turkey's maritime delimitation deal with Libya. 

The Foreign Ministers of Greece, Cyprus, France and Egypt rejected on Wednesday two deals signed between Turkey and Libya's UN-recognised government in Tripoli, saying they further undermine regional stability and are both "null and void."

European leaders warned Libya's internationally recognised prime minister on Wednesday against allowing Turkish troops on Libyan soil or agreeing to a natural gas deal with Turkey to avoid worsening the latest turmoil in the country.

Turkey's president and the British prime minister on Jan. 8 discussed top international issues in a phone call, said the Turkish Presidential Communications Directorate on Jan. 8.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Prime Minister Boris Johnson spoke about the current tension between the U.S. and Iran and other regional and international issues, particularly Libya and Syria.

Turkey and Italy's foreign ministers held talks on Jan. 7 in the Turkish metropolitan city of Istanbul.

"Happy to welcome Minister of Foreign Affairs @luigidimaio of #Italy," Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said in a Twitter post following his meeting with Luigi di Maio.

Greek Foreign Affairs Minister Nikos Dendias is heading to Cairo on Wednesday for a meeting of the Greece-Cyprus-Egypt tripartite partnership with his counterparts of Cyprus Nikos Christodoulides and of Egypt Samekh Shukri, but this time the meeting will include the Foreign Affairs Ministers of France, Jean-Yves Le Drian and of Italy, Luigi Di Maio.

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis described the agreement that purportedly delimitated the maritime borders between Turkey and Libya as "geographically ridiculous," saying it completely disregards Crete.
The deal, signed last month in Libya, seeks to create an exclusive economic zone from Turkey's southern Mediterranean shore to Libya's northeast coast.

The European Union's top diplomat and the foreign ministers of Britain, France, Germany and Italy condemned on Tuesday Turkey's plans to send military experts and trainers to Libya, saying foreign interference there was exacerbating instability.