Greece and Turkey Clash at UN Security Council

by · Greek City Times

Greece and Turkey exchanged diplomatic accusations at the United Nations Security Council over the Turkish-Libyan maritime memorandum, during a meeting on emerging technologies and maritime security held under Greece’s presidency on Friday.

Turkey’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador Ahmet Yıldız, responded to remarks by Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, defending the 2019 maritime agreement between Turkey and Libya and challenging Greece’s objections to its validity.

Yıldız argued that the Security Council was not a court for maritime boundary disputes, saying that a map could illustrate a claim but could not determine its legal validity.

He defended the Turkish-Libyan memorandum, stressing that it had remained in force since 2019. He also argued that recent parliamentary action in Libya reflected the Libyan people’s support for the agreement.

Read more: Greece Challenges Turkish-Libyan Memorandum at UN

The Turkish ambassador maintained that the memorandum neither determined nor prejudged the rights of states that were not parties to it.

Addressing Greece’s islands, Yıldız said Turkey did not question their existence, population or sovereignty. However, he argued that the legal issue concerned the maritime effect that islands should receive when states delimit overlapping maritime claims.

He referred to international case law concerning the principle that islands do not automatically receive full effect in maritime boundary delimitation. He also reiterated that Turkey was not a party to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

Yıldız further revived Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s proposal for an Eastern Mediterranean Conference, referring to the rights of Turkish Cypriots and the self-proclaimed Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC).

Greece rejects Turkish-Libyan memorandum as legally invalid

Responding to Turkey’s arguments, Greece’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador Aglaia Balta, reiterated Athens’ categorical rejection of the so-called Turkish-Libyan maritime memorandum.

Balta stressed that the agreement contradicted both geography and international law.

She argued that the reported recent ratification by Libya’s House of Representatives could not change the agreement’s legal character, which Greece considers null and void, or give it any legal effect.

“Geography cannot be reshaped. This is not a slogan,” Balta said, adding that an agreement between two states could not infringe on the sovereign rights of a third country.

The Greek ambassador also stressed that international law could not be applied selectively to advance unilateral claims. She cited Greece’s maritime delimitation agreements with Italy and Egypt as examples of its approach to resolving maritime boundaries under international law.

Responding to Turkey’s objection to discussing maritime delimitation at the Security Council, Balta said respect for the Law of the Sea lay at the heart of maritime security.

“Reminding everyone of the rules governing our seas does not constitute an abuse of the Council. It serves its very purpose,” she said.

Greece reiterates commitment to dialogue and peaceful dispute resolution

Yıldız subsequently took the floor again, arguing that meaningful negotiations were necessary and expressing hope that they would begin as soon as possible.

In her final intervention, Balta stressed that Greece had consistently pursued good-neighbourly relations with Turkey, based on mutual respect, international law and the principles of the United Nations Charter.

” Greece remains committed to dialogue and the peaceful settlement of disputes. However, meaningful dialogue requires respect for international law, sovereignty and sovereign rights,” she concluded.

(Source: AMNA)

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