{"id":838439,"date":"2026-10-30T02:20:00","date_gmt":"2026-10-30T06:20:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mereja.com\/index\/?p=838439"},"modified":"2026-10-30T01:49:45","modified_gmt":"2026-10-30T05:49:45","slug":"turkey-offers-egypt-a-maritime-border-deal-saying-cairo-would-gain-15000-square-kilometers-more-than-with-greece","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.com\/index\/838439","title":{"rendered":"Turkey offers Egypt a maritime border deal, saying Cairo would gain 15,000 square kilometers more than with Greece"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Turkish<\/figure>\n

Turkish Defence Ministry spokesman Rear Admiral Zeki Akturk at the ministry's weekly press briefing in Ankara, October 28, 2026. Photo: video still from the Turkish Ministry of National Defence via X<\/em><\/p>\n

Turkey says it is ready to sign a maritime boundary agreement with Egypt that would give Cairo more than 15,000 square kilometers of extra sea area compared with a deal with Greece.<\/p>\n

The offer was made on Wednesday by the spokesman of the Turkish Ministry of National Defence, Rear Admiral Zeki Akturk, at the ministry's weekly press briefing in Ankara. "We once again emphasize that we are ready to sign an Agreement on the Delimitation of Maritime Jurisdiction Areas with Egypt in line with mutual interests," the ministry said, according to Anadolu Agency. "It is assessed that if Egypt signs such an agreement with our country, it would gain more than 15,000 square kilometers of additional maritime jurisdiction compared to a potential agreement it could conclude with Greece."<\/p>\n

The ministry did not publish a map or say how the figure was calculated. It said Turkey would continue to protect its "legitimate rights and interests in the Eastern Mediterranean" within the framework of international law.<\/p>\n

The timing is no accident. Akturk also welcomed the vote by Libya's House of Representatives on October 20 to approve the 2019 memorandum on maritime jurisdiction between Turkey and Libya, calling it "an important development supporting our country's approach based on international law and the principles of equity." The memorandum, signed with the Tripoli government of Fayez al-Sarraj, draws a sea boundary between the Turkish and Libyan coasts that ignores Greek islands in between, including Crete, the Cyprus Mail noted. Greece, Cyprus and the European Union have called it "null and void," and Egypt also rejected it.<\/p>\n

Cairo has not yet answered the new offer in public. Mereja found no statement from Egypt's Foreign Ministry or its spokesman about the Turkish proposal by early Friday. Egypt's position on the Libya memorandum is on record, though. Foreign Ministry spokesman Nader Zaki said on October 24 that Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty had told his Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan in Istanbul that the 2019 memorandum is "absolutely null and void" and "ink on paper," according to Egypt's State Information Service. This week Egypt joined the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Greece and Cyprus in a joint statement objecting to the Libyan parliament's approval of the memorandum, saying it raises "serious concerns" and undermines international law, the news account Warbaa News (@Warbaanews) reported.<\/p>\n

Egypt signed a partial maritime boundary agreement with Greece in August 2020, a deal seen at the time as an answer to the Turkish and Libyan accord.<\/p>\n

Athens answered quickly. "International relations are not an auction, and maritime zones are not awarded to the highest bidder," Greek diplomatic sources said, according to the Greek news site Pagenews. "No public relations offer can replace geography and the rules of the Law of the Sea." Greece and Egypt are discussing extending their 2020 agreement eastwards toward Cyprus, Turkish Minute reported.<\/p>\n

In Egypt, Osama al-Dalil, head of international affairs at Al-Ahram Al-Arabi, told Al Arabiya on Thursday that Ankara's offer of 15,000 square kilometers was "not suitable" and that the Turkish and Libyan deal was a test of how solid Turkey's relations with Egypt are.<\/p>\n

Reaction online followed national lines. The Egyptian commentator Menna Metwally (@MennaM100wally) argued that "Egypt deliberately left disputed areas outside its 2020 maritime agreement with Greece to avoid prejudicing the rights of other parties," and that Egypt "doesn't want anyone's legitimate maritime rights violated, whether Turkey's, Libya's, Greece's, or anyone else's." From the Greek side, the account @Schopenhaueress wrote that "Egypt knows this offer has no legal standing and no basis for international recognition," adding that "Turkey thinks maritime rights work like real estate deals."<\/p>\n

In the Arab world, the offer was widely reported. The Arabic outlet Turkey Now (@turkeyalaan) said the Turkish estimate would give Cairo more than 15,000 square kilometers of additional maritime jurisdiction, and Noon Post (@NoonPost), citing sources at the Turkish ministry, said the deal would serve "the mutual interests" of both countries. NEXTA (@nexta_tv) shared a map of the competing claims and described the proposal as an offer "to redraw maritime boundaries in the Mediterranean." The account @ottomanenglish called it "a major geopolitical bombshell."<\/p>\n

For Egypt, saying yes to Ankara would mean reopening the 2020 deal with Athens, one of its closest partners in the region, and joining a process that Greece, Cyprus and the EU reject.<\/p>\n

In Ankara, the message was that the door is open. Turkey "will continue to protect its legitimate rights and interests in the Eastern Mediterranean," the Defence Ministry said, according to the Cyprus Mail.<\/p>\n

Sources<\/h4>\n