Turkey has stepped up a multipronged push in Libya to consolidate its contested maritime claims in the eastern Mediterranean, blending naval diplomacy with high-level back-channel talks. Turkish intelligence chief Ibrahim Kalin visited Benghazi on August 25 for his first publicly known meeting in his current role with Khalifa Hifter, the commander of the self-styled Libyan National Army (LNA) that controls eastern Libya. The trip followed a rare Turkish naval port call in Benghazi by the corvette TCG Kinaliada on Aug. 20-21, underscoring Ankara's bid to persuade eastern authorities to endorse a 2019 maritime delimitation deal signed with Libya's Tripoli-based government.
According to Al-Monitor, LNA statements stated that Kalin and Hifter discussed ways to deepen cooperation, and on August 31howed Kalin also meeting Saddam Hifter, the commander's son and newly appointed LNA deputy commander-in-chief. Ankara has not stated the talks. During the Kinaliada's stop, Turkish naval officers also met Saddam Hifter, signaling an overture to a camp that once denounced Ankara's 2019 accord as "null and void."
Libya remains split despite a 2020 UN-brokered ceasefire: Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah's internationally recognized government holds Tripoli, while Hifter dominates the east through the LNA. Turkey intervened militarily in late 2019 to support the Tripoli authorities, then led by Fayez al-Sarraj, reversing Hifter's siege of the capital and tilting the battlefield toward a ceasefire. Since then, Ankara has cultivated contacts in the east to safeguard its security and economic interests and, crucially, to secure ratification of the maritime deal in Benghazi.
That effort is gaining traction. The parliament based in the east formed a committee in June to reconsider the previously rejected accord, and Bloomberg reported last week that a vote could come in the months ahead. Ratification would effectively establish a maritime corridor between Turkey and Libya, enabling Ankara to assert rights over and explore potentially energy-rich waters while countering Greek continental shelf claims linked to its Aegean and eastern Mediterranean islands.
Greece argues that the 2019 deal unlawfully ignores the maritime effects of Crete, Kasos, Karpathos, Kastellorizo, and Rhodes. Turkish analysts counter that the accord provides a legal and geopolitical counterweight to Athens' position. A legal expert who advises governments and corporations told Al-Monitor that there are no detailed, universal rules for maritime boundary delimitation and that islands can generate full or partial exclusive economic zone (EEZ) rights, depending on their size, population, and self-sufficiency. "Greece weakens its claims by trying to treat its small islands, such as Meis [Kastellorizo] and Gavdos, the same as Crete and Rhodes," the expert said. Turkey objects to Athens using the tiny island of Kastellorizo, located just 2 kilometers off Turkey's coast, to claim a vast area extending toward Cyprus and Egypt. Instead, Turkey maps a zone linking its coastline to Libya and Egypt via Rhodes and Crete.
Regional alignments are also shifting. Greece and Egypt signed a partial EEZ deal in August 2020 that challenged the Turkey-Tripoli pact. However, Ankara and Cairo normalized diplomatic ties in 2023 and have edged closer on Libya, as Turkey has engaged with Hifter, a longtime Egyptian ally. Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan met with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in El Alamein on August 9 to discuss regional issues, including Libya. Analysts in Ankara suggest that Egypt's earlier August 9th disputed areas be opened, and that warming ties with Turkey could ease Hifter's path to endorsing the 2019 accord.
Italy adds another dimension. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan hosted Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Dbeibah in Istanbul on Aug. 1, as Rome leads European efforts to curb irregular migration from Libya. Closer Turkish-Italian coordination with both Tripoli and Benghazi could see cooperation on energy, maritime zones, and reconstruction, potentially within a trilateral framework that strengthens Ankara’s hand against Greek objections.
With naval visits, intelligence diplomacy, and European outreach converging, Ankara's Libya strategy is testing Athens' red lines. A ratification vote in Benghazi, if it materializes, could reshape the eastern Mediterranean's legal and energy landscape.
Photo: Generated by Gemini AI.