Turkey's President Erdogan arrives in Tunisia for 'surprise talks'

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan arrived in Tunisia on December 25 to meet his Tunisian counterpart Kais Saied and hold talks on various issues. The Turkish President is accompanied by the foreign and defence ministers, as well as his intelligence chief. The surprise visit can be seen from the prism of Turkey’s relation with Tunisia’s neighbour Libya and their recent bilateral agreement on maritime boundaries in the mediterranean sea.

Erdogan had earlier held discussions with Saied on the ongoing political and humanitarian crisis in Libya and possible steps and cooperation to establish a ceasefire in Libya. The meeting can help find ways to prevent the Libyan National Army’s battle against the Libyan government.

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Turkey-Libya maritime agreement

Turkey and the UN-recognised Libyan government had signed a military accord but Greece raised an objection to a memorandum on maritime boundaries, calling it violative of international law. Greece accused Libya and Turkey of signing an agreement in bad faith and in violation of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). It also sent letters to the United Nations explaining the reason behind their objections to the deal between the Mediterranean countries. 

Greece said that the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of Turkey and Libya cannot be adjacent as they don’t have a joint maritime border. The letter noted that the bilateral deal ignored the presence of Greek islands in the region and their separate right to a continental shelf and exclusive economic zone. The agreement would provide Turkey and Libya exclusive access to the zones across the Mediterranean despite the objections from Greece, Egypt and Cyprus. 

Read: Turkey Approves Security, Military Cooperation Deal With Libya

Internal war affecting Turkey's interest

However, the Libyan Parliament is yet to ratify the deal as it is currently concerned about the battle against the Libyan National Army.

In November, Ghassan Salamé, Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) told the Security Council that arms embargo is being breached by vested interests to support different groups in the country and are shipping war materials continuously. He informed that drone technologies have been used in support of the Libyan National Army which led to more than 800 strikes.

A possible ceasefire in Syria could help Libya ratify the contentious bill which makes Erdogan’s visit to Tunisia extremely important.

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