Egypt, Greece and Cyprus tell Ankara, without saying so: your Libya deal does not count – EUalive

Egypt, the Republic of Cyprus and Greece on Tuesday again said that maritime-jurisdiction agreements and memoranda must comply with international law, including the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

The call came in a joint declaration after their summit in El Alamein.

The text, obtained by Bosphorus News, also demands the withdrawal of all foreign forces and mercenaries from Libya and faster links between Cypriot gas fields and Egyptian gas infrastructure.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said any agreement or memorandum delimiting maritime zones should follow international law, including UNCLOS, and the principles already agreed in their trilateral format.

The wording goes to the heart of an unresolved Eastern Mediterranean dispute, though the declaration does not name Turkey. Ankara is not a party to UNCLOS and argues that its 2019 maritime memorandum with Libya is lawful and based on equitable delimitation. Greece still treats that memorandum as null and void.

In 2019 Turkey and Libya’s then-government signed a memorandum drawing a maritime boundary across the Eastern Mediterranean that Ankara says is legal and equitable, but that Greece and Cyprus reject as invalid because it cuts through waters they claim and ignores nearby Greek islands.

The UNCLOS language closely tracks the declaration from the previous trilateral summit in Cairo in January 2025, when the three governments also said maritime delimitation deals should conform to international law and UNCLOS.

On Libya, the new text supports an inclusive, Libyan-led political process without foreign interference, calls for simultaneous presidential and parliamentary elections, and demands that all foreign forces and mercenaries leave.

Energy takes up another large part of the statement. The three leaders backed further work on the Greece–Egypt GREGY electricity interconnector and urged the rapid completion of connections between Cypriot gas fields and Egyptian facilities. Egypt is already working separately with Cyprus on projects tied to the Aphrodite and Cronos fields.

On Cyprus, the declaration supports the UN secretary-general and his personal envoy and calls for a comprehensive settlement within the UN framework and in line with relevant Security Council resolutions.

That language is less specific than in January 2025, when the three explicitly backed reunification as a bizonal, bicommunal federation with a single sovereignty, a single international personality and a single citizenship. The El Alamein text drops that formula but still ties any settlement to the UN process.

Cypriot media had reported before the summit that the Mecca Joint Defence Agreement between Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan would be among the regional issues discussed. The final declaration mentions neither that pact nor Turkey.

The three governments also backed the second phase of US President Donald Trump’s plan for Gaza, a Palestinian state along the 4 June 1967 lines with East Jerusalem as its capital, implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1701 in Lebanon, and closer cooperation on the economy, migration and water security.

The article by EUalive’s partner Bosphorus News can be found here.

Caption: From left to right: Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis [Photo credit: Bosphorus News]

Updated: September 11, 2026 – 10:32