在利比亚两个政府中的第二个政府批准了欧盟成员国希腊和塞浦路斯有争议的海上边界后，土耳其向扩大东地中海能源勘探迈进了一步。
Turkey moved closer to expanding energy exploration in the eastern Mediterranean after the second of Libya’s two governments endorsed maritime boundaries disputed by European Union members Greece and Cyprus.
土耳其外交部表示，利比亚东部行政当局所在地班加西于周二批准了一项划分海上管辖权的协议，此举保护了安卡拉的权利并将深化双边合作。位于西部首都的黎波里的利比亚对立政府与土耳其关系密切，此前已对该协议表示支持。
The Turkish Foreign Ministry said the Tuesday ratification by Libya’s eastern administration in Benghazi of a deal to delimit maritime jurisdictions protects Ankara’s rights and will deepen bilateral cooperation. The rival Libyan government in the western capital, Tripoli, has close ties with Turkey and has already backed the deal.
班加西的批准加强了安卡拉在争议水域的海上主张，并可能为土耳其船只在位于土耳其和利比亚之间的克里特岛以东进行石油和天然气勘探铺平道路。这也可能激化土耳其与希腊和塞浦路斯之间的紧张关系，这两国对大部分相同领土主张竞争性权利。
Approval from Benghazi strengthens Ankara’s maritime claims in contested waters and could pave the way for Turkish ships to explore for oil and gas east of Crete, which is situated between Turkey and Libya. It could also inflame Turkey’s tensions with Greece and Cyprus, which assert competing rights over much of the same territory.
利比亚还因雅典就克里特岛以南水域颁发的离岸勘探许可证与希腊发生冲突。
Libya is also in conflict with Greece over offshore-exploration licenses issued by Athens for waters south of Crete.
欧盟执行机构欧盟委员会主席乌尔苏拉·冯德莱恩周二晚间在X平台上发表声明称：“该协议侵犯了第三国的主权权利，不符合《海洋法》，是无效的。我们重申对希腊和塞浦路斯的声援。”总部设在的黎波里的智库萨德克研究所创始人阿纳斯·埃尔·戈马蒂表示，尽管东地中海的海上边界长期存在争议，但土耳其现在可以宣称利比亚全国都支持其主张。
“This agreement infringes upon the sovereign rights of third states, it does not comply with the Law of the Sea, and is null and void,” Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission — the EU’s executive arm — said in a statement on X late Tuesday. “We reaffirm our solidarity with Greece and Cyprus.”
他补充说，这可能会导致安卡拉更加强力地宣示自身主张，从而可能使连接塞浦路斯和希腊与欧洲的海底电缆和管道计划变得复杂。戈马蒂说：“投资者和保险公司将不得不把这一风险因素计入船只的成本中。”
Although maritime boundaries in the eastern Mediterranean have long been disputed, Turkey can now claim that all of Libya supports its claims, Anas El Gomati, founder of the Tripoli-based Sadeq Institute think tank, said on He added that it may cause Ankara to assert itself more forcefully, potentially complicating plans for cables and pipelines linking Cyprus and Greece to Europe. “Investors and insurers will have to price that risk in for vessels,” Gomati said.
布鲁金斯学会研究员阿斯利·艾丁塔斯巴什在X平台上表示，这一事态发展对该地区也具有政治影响，该地区正在见证“两个日益竞争的地缘政治集团的出现——一个由土耳其领导，另一个由以色列领导——从东地中海延伸到更广泛的中东”。她补充说，将其影响力扩大到整个利比亚“在以色列-希腊-塞浦路斯能源和防务同盟正在加深之际，加强了土耳其的地位”。
The development also has political implications for the region, which is seeing “the emergence of two increasingly competitive geopolitical blocks — one led by Turkey, the other by Israel — extending from the Eastern Mediterranean into the wider Middle East,” Brookings Institution fellow Asli Aydintasbas said on Extending its influence across all of Libya “strengthens Turkey’s position at a time when the Israel–Greece–Cyprus energy and defense alignment is deepening,” she added.