The Turkish-Libyan memorandum is casting a shadow over relations with Libya, and at a time when US oil giant Chevron is preparing to begin exploration in blocks south of Crete.

In a diplomatic note sent to Greece on 24 August, Libya did more than protest against the announced exploration in areas south of Crete. It warned that continuing the work, along with similar actions, “could negatively affect the course of bilateral negotiations between the two countries” and potentially even lead to their “suspension”.

According to the diplomatic note, Libya protests against the surveys and exploration activities “being conducted in maritime areas that have not been delimited between the two countries, as well as the expansion of these areas”. It also expresses concern over the Greek government’s call for bids, published in the Official Journal of the European Union on 17 August 2026, confirming the provisions published in the Government Gazette (issue 3948, dated 30 June 2026). Under these provisions, the Hellenic Hydrocarbons and Energy Resources Management Company (HEREMA) is to grant a licence for seismic surveys in an area south of Crete, the Peloponnese and the Ionian Sea.

Claims

The diplomatic note states that “these actions constitute an explicit violation and infringement of the Libyan continental shelf, as officially announced and registered with the United Nations on 27 May 2025”.

The Greek Foreign Ministry is also warned that “such actions could negatively affect the course of bilateral negotiations between the two countries, which, despite proceeding at a slow pace, have made progress in the rounds held so far. However, the continuation of these violations could potentially lead to their suspension, given that both sides have agreed to refrain from provocative actions that would affect the progress and continuation of the negotiations”.

The Libyan side refers to the international public tender for the granting of “permits to acquire and process non-exclusive seismic data within maritime areas in western and southern Greece”, issued by the Committee for the Granting of Offshore Exploration Licences (EXAETH).

The tender concerns the launch of 2D and 3D seismic surveys in eight areas, including South of Crete 1, South of Crete 2 and Southwest of Crete. The boundaries of these areas have been drawn in accordance with Greek law, specifically Law 4001/2011, which establishes the median line as the outer limit of Greece’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) in the absence of a bilateral delimitation agreement.

The delimitation of the Greek exploration blocks and the licences to be issued for exploration overlaps in certain places with areas assigned to Libya under the Turkish-Libyan memorandum as part of its purported EEZ. It also overlaps with areas that Libya is seeking to claim as part of its own EEZ, using calculations based on a general application of the approach adopted in the Turkish-Libyan memorandum, as well as unilateral actions such as the closure of the Gulf of Sirte and the failure to take into account the effect of islands such as Gavdos.

Protest

The Libyan side is protesting against Greek exploration, arguing that the two countries have agreed to avoid “provocative actions”. This comes as Libya itself seeks to consolidate the Turkish-Libyan memorandum and wants Greece to accept, in bilateral talks, its efforts to create faits accomplis by submitting to the United Nations a map of maritime zones it has unilaterally defined on the basis of the memorandum and its own maximalist claims over the Greek continental shelf.

The development is particularly noteworthy because, in eastern Libya, the departure of Aguila Saleh from the presidency of the House of Representatives was announced after 12 years in the post. He is to be replaced by another politician who belongs to Saddam Haftar’s inner circle.

Saleh was one of the politicians with whom Greece had maintained a good working relationship and open channels of communication. He was also among those who opposed the signing of the Turkish-Libyan memorandum from the outset.

With his replacement, it is now left entirely to the Haftar camp to decide whether to yield to pressure from Ankara and allow the Turkish-Libyan memorandum to be formally ratified by the House of Representatives. Such a development would not change the situation on the ground, but it would lend the approval process a veneer of legality and bind the next unified government as well, whenever one is formed.