Turkey challenges Greek energy deal near Crete, citing 2019 Libya accord

ANKARA, Türkiye — Türkiye on Thursday denounced Greece’s new agreement with U.S. energy major Chevron to explore for hydrocarbons south of Crete, calling the move unlawful and contrary to good-neighborly relations in the Eastern Mediterranean.

“We oppose this unlawful activity, which is being attempted in violation of the 2019 Memorandum of Understanding on Maritime Jurisdiction between Libya and our country,” the Turkish Defense Ministry said at its weekly briefing. The ministry added that while the work does not directly affect Türkiye’s continental shelf, it violates Libya’s maritime jurisdiction that Tripoli notified to the United Nations on May 27, 2025. Ankara said it would “provide the necessary support to the Libyan authorities” to act against “unilateral and unlawful activities by Greece.”

Greece has rejected the 2019 Türkiye-Libya deal as invalid, arguing it ignores the presence and rights of Crete and other Greek islands. On Monday, a Chevron-led consortium signed exclusive leases to search for natural gas off southern Greece, doubling the acreage open for exploration and expanding U.S. energy presence in the Eastern Mediterranean as the European Union seeks to curb reliance on Russian supplies.

Longstanding maritime boundary disputes between NATO allies Türkiye and Greece have shadowed energy exploration, airspace management and military deconfliction in the Aegean and eastern Mediterranean, a region believed to hold significant reserves.

In a wide-ranging update, Ankara also outlined expanded security and economic engagement with Somalia. The Defense Ministry said Türkiye’s training, advisory and support mission in the Horn of Africa is growing “in scope,” and that Turkish forces will “continue to provide security” for ongoing drilling operations as well as for what it described as a “Space Port and Test Launch Site” under construction in Somalia. The ministry said Türkiye would offer “maximum support” to counterterrorism operations by the Somali National Army and maintain deterrence through its presence.

On Feb. 5, Somalia’s federal Cabinet approved new maritime trade agreements, including a cooperation pact with Türkiye. According to officials, the framework covers ship traffic improvements, port service modernization, mutual recognition of seafaring certificates, technical cooperation and knowledge sharing, nondiscriminatory port services and facilitation of commercial activity.

Energy ties are deepening at sea. Türkiye said its new deep-drilling ship Çağrı Bey departed the southern port of Mersin for Somali waters to begin oil exploration, becoming the first Turkish drilling vessel deployed outside Türkiye’s waters. It follows the research and seismic ship Oruç Reis, which Ankara dispatched to Somalia in October 2024 and which completed its mission last summer.

The ministry framed Somalia’s territorial integrity as a priority for Ankara, noting Türkiye joined others in condemning Israel’s controversial recognition of breakaway North Western State of Somalia. Türkiye has cultivated close economic and security links with Mogadishu since 2011 across energy, defense, education, health and infrastructure.

On Syria, the Turkish Defense Ministry said it “expects the integration process between the Syrian government and the YPG to be completed swiftly,” reiterating that Ankara sees “no alternative” to an approach that reinforces Syria’s unitary state structure and the principle of “one state and one army.”

According to the ministry, the Syrian Army launched an operation on Jan. 16 against YPG positions west of the Euphrates River, later expanding east with the involvement of tribal forces. Ankara said that led to territories formerly held by the group coming under government control, and that a Jan. 18 cease-fire and full-integration agreement set out steps to restore state authority. Turkish officials said Syrian security forces and administrators have entered former YPG-run areas including Hassakeh, Qamishli and Ain al-Arab (Kobani), along with strategic facilities such as airports, oil fields and border crossings. The accord, as described by the ministry, envisions a phased transfer of security responsibilities, redeployment of state institutions and the incorporation of YPG elements into official structures.

The developments underscore Ankara’s bid to shape outcomes across three fronts — contested energy exploration in the Eastern Mediterranean, security and resource projects in Somalia, and the endgame for nonstate armed actors in Syria — while navigating the interests of NATO partners, regional governments and global energy markets.

By Ali Musa
Axadle Times international–Monitoring.