Strong reactions within and outside Libya over the signing of the Libya-Turkey memorandum, diplomatic sources say

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The signing of the memorandum between the government of national unity of Libya based in Tripoli and Turkey did not have the triumphal character that Turkish officials and Turkish media tried to give it, diplomatic sources reported and noted that there was a series of strong reactions inside and outside Libya.

First of all, there was the “removal” of the competent Minister of Petroleum, who had expressed reservations – “observations”, as he called them, regarding the draft of the memorandum that was finally signed.

The Libyan Minister of Economy, in a last-minute move, it seems, acquired the relevant powers and signed on behalf of the government of national unity, at a time when the minister that was really responsible was in South Africa.

The same sources underlined the reference of the Libyan foreign ministry, during the joint press conference with its Turkish counterpart, where it stated that the Turkish-Libyan “memorandum” of 2019 has not yet been ratified.

Then there was the strong reaction of the president of the Libyan House of Representatives, as well as of the competent Energy and Natural Resources Committee, which in a long announcement on Monday night underlined that the mandate of the government of national unity has ended and it does not have the right to sign international agreements.

• Therefore, the memorandum signed yesterday is illegal and invalid and as was stated, among other things, the announcement of the Libyan Parliament was not even worth the ink on which it was printed.

Egypt‘s reaction was also immediate, which also directly questioned the legitimacy of yesterday’s memorandum.

Finally, the sources noted a statement of the EU High Representative Josep Borrell, head of the EU’s diplomacy, which referred to the conclusions of the European Council of December 2019, regarding the illegal and invalid nature of the Turkish-Libyan “memorandum”.

The above developments are encouraging but Greece remains alert at all times, diplomatic sources stressed.

In this context, Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias will on Tuesday continue a round of briefings of ambassadors of the permanent members of the UN Security Council (yesterday France and the USA, today the United Kingdom and China) and next Sunday he will go to Cairo, in order to have a thorough discussion with his Egyptian counterpart Sameh Shoukry.

He also had the opportunity to present the entirety of Turkish provocation, showing relevant maps, to a group of American Members of the House of Representatives (Military Affairs Committee), who were visiting Greece on Tuesday.

Source: ANA – MPA

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