Turkish defence ministry sources say Ankara is “ready” to sign a delimitation deal with Egypt, repeating the 15,000 sq km claim against Greece

Ankara is returning, now in an official manner, to its proposal to Egypt for a delimitation agreement. Sources at Turkey’s Ministry of National Defence (MSB) said on Wednesday, October 28 that Turkey is ready to sign with Cairo an agreement on maritime jurisdiction zones, and claimed again that Egypt would thus gain more than 15,000 square kilometres more than a deal with Greece would give it.

The statement was made on the occasion of the ministry’s weekly press briefing in Ankara, given by the MSB’s Press and Public Relations Adviser, Rear Admiral Zeki Aktürk. The position on Egypt was given by ministry sources answering journalists’ questions after the briefing. The text of the answer was published verbatim by state broadcaster TRT Haber and by Hürriyet.

“We stress once more that we are ready to sign with Egypt, on the basis of mutual interests, an agreement on the delimitation of maritime jurisdiction zones. It is estimated that if Egypt signs such an agreement with our country, it will have more than 15,000 square kilometres more maritime jurisdiction compared with a possible agreement it could make with Greece,” the answer says, in the Turkish side’s own words. Turkey, it adds, “will continue to protect its legitimate rights and interests in the Eastern Mediterranean within the framework of international law”.

The offer to Cairo comes with a reference to Libya. The MSB sources welcomed the approval of the 2019 Turkish–Libyan memorandum by Libya’s House of Representatives on October 20, calling it a “significant development” that supports the Turkish approach, which Ankara considers grounded in international law and the principle of equity. They also insisted that the legitimate rights of coastal states must be protected in the Eastern Mediterranean.

It is not the first time the Turkish side has put forward the same number. A few days earlier Defence Minister Yaşar Güler himself had addressed the “15,000 square kilometres” proposal to Egypt in a television interview, as we reported in Turkish defence minister Güler courts Cairo. The new reference now takes the form of an official ministry position at the weekly briefing.

Egypt’s answer so far

Egypt has rejected the memorandum. Its Foreign Ministry rejected the Libyan House’s ratification on October 21, and on Monday, October 26 Egypt took part in the joint statement at the UN with Greece, the EU, Cyprus, Bahrain and the UAE, which describes the text as null and void. Greece and Egypt signed a partial delimitation agreement in 2020, which Turkey does not recognise; our explainer on the Greece–Egypt EEZ agreement sets out what it says.

A joint exercise with Egypt and the confidence-building measures with Greece

At the same briefing the MSB announced a joint naval exercise with Egypt. From November 4 to 9 the exercise “Dostluk Denizi-2026” (Sea of Friendship) will take place in Alexandria, with units and personnel of the two countries’ navies training in surface operations, anti-submarine warfare and air defence, as well as in underwater attack training (SAT). Aktürk gave the details at the briefing, extensive excerpts of which were published by A Haber.

The Turkish spokesman also referred to Greece in the framework of the Confidence-Building Measures (CBMs). From November 3 to 5 the commander of the Hellenic Tactical Air Force Command and an accompanying delegation will visit the commander of Turkey’s Combat Air Command, under the Turkey–Greece CBM implementation plan. The latest round of CBMs took place in Chania on October 9, as we reported in Confidence-building measures in Chania.