On Tuesday, Greek Minister for National Defence Nikos Panagiotopoulos and his Egyptian counterpart Mohamed Zaki signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) in aeronautical and maritime search and rescue in Cairo, undermining the recent gas deal between Turkey and Libya, which both Greece and Egypt have described as “illegal.”
“Greece and Egypt demonstrate their shared commitment to the supreme value of human life,” Greek Minister of Foreign Affairs Nikos Dendias, who was also present at the signing, remarked. He noted that the deal “proves once again that the Mediterranean is not - and has never been - a barrier between Europe, Asia, and Africa. On the contrary, it serves as a bridge between the peoples of these three continents.”
Its main pillar is always adherence to International Law, including the Law of the Sea, and the principles of the United Nations Charter.
— Nikos Dendias (@NikosDendias) November 22, 2022
In a similar vein, Panagiotopoulos stated that the agreement “defines the limits of jurisdiction and areas of responsibility for Search and Rescue between Greece and Egypt, which are identical to the Athens and Cairo flight information regions (FIRs) respectively.” He also pointed out that it contrasts with “the so-called ‘Memoranda of Cooperation’ between Turkey and the Government of Tripoli, which constitute illegal, unlawful, invalid and destabilising behaviours.”
Dendias, too, stressed that “our actions are always based on international norms.”
“In no way do we ever try to infringe upon the sovereignty or the sovereign rights of other countries. Contrary to what others in the region are doing on a constant basis,” he further emphasised in a sharp rebuke of Turkey.
Turkey disagrees with Greece’s FIRs and the Greece-Egypt pact includes the maritime region under the Turkey-Libya agreement.
Greece and Egypt have condemned the natural gas deal Turkey and Libya signed last month on the joint exploration of gas and hydrocarbon deposits in the Mediterranean as “illegal and illegitimate.” Dendias has emphasised that the MoU violates Greece and Egypt’s exclusive economic zones (EEZ) in the Mediterranean.
📍 Cairo, #Egypt
— Υπουργείο Εξωτερικών (@GreeceMFA) November 22, 2022
In the presence of FM @NikosDendias & Alt. FM @MVarvitsiotis, DefMin @npanagioto signed w/ #Egypt counterpart, M. Zaki, #MoU b/w the 🇬🇷&🇪🇬 Governments on Cooperation in the Fields of Aeronautical and Maritime Search & Rescue pic.twitter.com/w1dFYEEAKz
He has argued that “the mandate of the Tripoli government has expired long ago” and “does not represent the Libyan people,” referring to the end of the Tripoli-based Government of National Unity’s (GNU) term in December last year, when it failed to hold presidential and parliamentary elections. Dendias has also accused Ankara of “blackmailing” the GNU to grant Turkey exploration rights in the Mediterranean.
Last week, Dendias also abruptly cancelled his scheduled meeting with the President of the Tripoli-based government, Mohamed Younes Menfi, after his GNU counterpart Najla Mangoush arrived at the airport to greet him. The Greek Foreign Ministry said in a statement that Mangoush had failed to respect the agreement between Greece and Libya that Dendias would not meet with his counterpart. The Libyan Foreign Ministry condemned Dendias’ actions, saying his behaviour was “crude.”
Similarly, Turkey-Egypt ties have steadily deteriorated since Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi ousted his predecessor Muhammad Morsi in a military coup in 2013. Following Morsi’s ouster, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who was prime minister at the time, called the Egyptian military “enemies of democracy” and “brutal murderers.”
In 2019, Erdoğan called El-Sisi’s regime “authoritarian” and “totalitarian” after Egypt executed several Muslim Brotherhood members. In response, Egypt has cancelled military drills and high-level meetings with Turkey and was part of a successful campaign against Turkey’s 2016 bid to become a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council. In addition, in 2019, El-Sisi used the term “genocide” to refer to Turkey’s massacre of more than a million Armenians between 1915 and 1917, a move that Turkey fiercely opposes.
Tête-à-tête meeting between FM #Sameh_Shoukry and his Greek counterpart @NikosDendias commences at the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs…Strategic historical relations based on longstanding friendship, mutual interests & coordination on issues of common concern.@GreeceMFA pic.twitter.com/nJaSXOWrtI
— Egypt MFA Spokesperson (@MfaEgypt) November 22, 2022
Egypt has also condemned Turkey’s support for the Muslim Brotherhood and Ankara’s decision to provide refuge to several Brotherhood leaders.
Furthermore, the two countries clashed in Libya during the second civil war from 2014 to 2020, with Ankara and Cairo militarily supporting rival groups in Libya to secure their respective energy interests. The Turkish-backed Government of National Accord (GNA) successfully pushed back the Egypt-backed Libyan National Army (LNA), led by warlord Khalifa Haftar.
However, Erdoğan has recently signalled his interest in normalising ties with Egypt as part of a wider effort to improve relations with regional countries, including Israel and Saudi Arabia. Turkey and Egypt started normalisation talks in 2021, and Ankara has even taken a few steps to appease Cairo, including asking Turkish media to limit their criticism of Cairo. During his visit to Indonesia for the G20 summit last week, Erdoğan said Turkey would “reevaluate the relations with the countries we have problems with,” including Egypt and Syria.
He also met with El-Sisi for the first time on the sidelines of the opening ceremony of the FIFA World Cup in Qatar on Sunday. Though the Egyptian presidency made no mention of El-Sisi’s meeting with the Turkish president, Anadolu Agency reported that the two presidents met during a reception hosted by Sheikh Tamim and held a “brief conversation.”
#Cairo | I signed an agreement with my 🇪🇬 counterpart Ihab Nasr to recruit 5.000 seasonal land workers from #Egypt.
— Varvitsiotis Miltiadis (@MVarvitsiotis) November 22, 2022
🔹️we cover agricultural sector’s needs
🔹️we deepen our relations with 🇪🇬
🔹️we set a model for 🇬🇷&🇪🇺cooperation with third countries, against illegal migration pic.twitter.com/ebuCELQ9Df
Apart from their maritime deal, Greek Alternate Foreign Affairs Minister Miltiadis Varvitsiotis and the Egyptian foreign ministry’s ambassador for European affairs, Ihab Nasr, signed another agreement to employ 5,000 seasonal workers in agriculture in a bid to promote “legal and regular migration.”
Dendias lauded Cairo’s efforts in tackling irregular migration, saying, “Egypt’s contribution should be recognised not only by Greece, but also by the European Union as a whole.”