The former Chief of Staff of the Turkish Naval Forces, Admiral Cihat Yaycı, said that each country has the sovereign right to sign any agreement, and that there is misinformation regarding the border between Turkey and Libya, which was said to be in conflict with the interests of some Greek islands.
Cihat Yaycı, who is known to be the architect of the maritime border demarcation agreement between Libya and Turkey, explained in an interview with the Greek newspaper "Katherini", that he was the one who drew this line that connects the coasts of the two countries, and passes through an area 40 miles from the island of Crete, stressing that Turkey does not interfere in the territorial waters of any country.
He added that the MoU signed with Libya is not subject by law to the approval of the Libyan House of Representatives, saying that there is no elected parliament in Libya now, adding that it collapsed 8 years ago and no elections had been held since then.
Yaycı added that he met members of the House of Representatives four months ago, and they had expressed concerns due to the Greek propaganda saying that Libya had lost a maritime area and was forced to sign an agreement with Turkey seizing its maritime rights.
Meanwhile, the Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said that interim governments in Libya are not obligated to the parliament's approval of the memoranda signed with other countries. Cavusoglu added, in his defense of the recent memorandum of understanding signed between his country's government and the Libyan Government of National Unity, that Egypt also signed memoranda of understanding with Libya, and House of Representatives' Speaker Aqila Saleh was not very concerned about them.
Cavusoglu was responding to a question by the opposition deputy and former ambassador Unal Cevikoz before the Planning and Budget Committee of the Turkish Parliament, according to the Nordic Monitor website, which specializes in Turkish affairs.