Turkey reiterates negotiation for fair share in E.Med

Turkey is in favor of negotiations for fair share of resource in the Eastern Mediterranean, the country’s foreign minister said on Tuesday.

Addressing a joint news conference with his Algerian counterpart Sabri Boukadoum in the capital Ankara, Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said if armaments on the Meis island exceed limits determined by agreements, Greece will be the loser.

Reports recently emerged claiming that Greece was building up its military deployments on the island of Meis, or Kastellorizo, off Turkey's southwest coast.

In July, after Athens objected to Ankara's seismic survey in an area south of Meis island, German diplomatic efforts helped defuse tensions between Turkey and Greece.

But Greece's controversial move to sign a maritime delimitation agreement with Egypt, which Turkey says violates its continental shelf and maritime rights, has further sparked tensions between the two neighbors.

Ankara accuses Greece of pursuing maximalist policies in the Eastern Mediterranean and underlines that its maritime claims violate Turkey's sovereign rights.

- Libya

On recent developments in Libya, Çavuşoğlu stressed that the developments in the war-torn North African country also affected its western neighbor, Algeria.

He said Turkey and Algeria would together support the political process and establishment of the cease-fire in Libya.

"The only solution to the crisis in Libya is political resolution. We've been saying this from the very beginning. We made huge efforts for the truce. We've always discussed these issues with Algeria," he added.

"With the failed cease-fire attempts, we've seen once again that [Khalifa] Haftar does not believe in a political solution and a cease-fire, but only wants a military solution."

On Aug. 21, Libya announced a cease-fire and ordered the military to stop all combat operations, specifying that the areas of Sirte and al-Jufra must be demilitarized, and calling for elections next March.

On Aug. 27, the Libyan army said militias loyal to warlord Haftar violated the truce.

Following the ouster of late ruler Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, Libya's new government was founded in 2015 under a UN-led political deal.

Libya's internationally recognized government has been under attack by Haftar's forces since April 2019, with more than 1,000 killed in the violence.

With Turkish support, Libya's government has turned the tide against the forces of Haftar, while stressing that there was no military solution for Libya.