Libya’s Saleh says maritime borders deal with Turkey is invalid
Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias and the speaker of the Libyan House of Representatives, Aguila Saleh, agreed on Friday that all foreign forces and mercenaries must leave the north African country so that free and fair elections can take place.
“What is needed – and you represent this in the clearest way – is for the Libyan people to be allowed to express their self-determination in elections,” Dendias told Saleh during a meeting in Athens, in an apparent dig at Turkey, which has maintained a strong military presence in Libya since deploying soldiers and Syrian fighters in support of the Libyan Government of National Accord (GNA) earlier this year.
In another reference to Turkey, and specifically to the maritime borders deal Ankara signed with the GNA in November 2019 – an agreement whose legitimacy is challenged by Greece – Saleh said the accord in invalid.
“The Presidential Council, whose term has expired, did not have the power to conclude any agreements or memoranda that have not been ratified by the House of Representatives,” he said, stressing that the House rejects the ratification of any such agreement.
