Regarding the Libyan House of Representatives' acceptance of the memorandum of understanding regarding the determination of maritime jurisdiction areas signed between Libya and Turkey in 2019, Minister of Foreign Affairs Hakan Fidan said, "This is an extremely legitimate agreement, both legally and politically. There is no need to discuss it." he said.
Minister Fidan made an evaluation to the AA correspondent within the scope of his visit to Brussels, the capital of Belgium.
Stating that they worked hard in Brussels, Fidan said, "We had a very busy time focusing on our bilateral relations with the Belgian government, relations with NATO, relations with the EU, and issues related to our citizens and non-governmental organizations here." he said.
Stating that they had many contacts in Belgium, Fidan stated that they evaluated bilateral and regional relations with his Belgian counterpart.
Underlining that they had a meeting with the Minister of Justice Akın Gürlek and the Minister of Internal Affairs Mustafa Çiftçi with the Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Justice and Internal Affairs of Turkey-Belgium, Fidan stated that they discussed and went over all the issues related to the subjects of the three ministries and other indirect issues.
Fidan emphasized that this 3+3 platform has been created since 2016 and is a very useful platform.
Reminding that Queen Mathilde of Belgium visited Türkiye, Minister Fidan said, "With a large economic and trade delegation. This has obviously taken bilateral relations to another level and we are building on it." he said.
Stating that he also met with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte in Brussels, Fidan stated that he and Rutte went over issues related to both Turkey-NATO relations, the follow-up of the decisions taken at the NATO Ankara Summit hosted by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in July, the Russia-Ukraine War, the Gulf, institutional issues that closely concern NATO, and crisis areas.
Fidan stated that they met with the European Union (EU) High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Kaja Kallas, and continued:
"Turkey-EU relations, how can the sticking points be overcome? There are regional and global issues that are closely followed by the EU-Turkey. Again, the Russia-Ukraine War, the Strait of Hormuz, the Babulmendeb Strait and the resulting energy problems. Grain products that have not been released to the world markets due to the tension in the Black Sea. What will happen to these, how will we do it, what kind of solutions will we bring to them? We have made an accounting of the blocked points in Turkey-EU relations, the points that are progressing, and these." made his assessment.
Stating that they also met with the President of the EU Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, Fidan said that they had a long meeting with her and that they had the opportunity to review the EU-Turkey issues very seriously.
Stating that it is necessary to continue these regular meetings, Fidan said, "There are very important issues, commercial and political issues. There are issues related to our current status, issues related to the candidacy status. It is essential for qualified, planned and persistent negotiations to continue for these." he said.
Regarding the adoption of the memorandum of understanding regarding the determination of maritime jurisdiction areas signed between Libya and Turkey by the Libyan House of Representatives in 2019, Minister Fidan stated that he had been following this issue closely since 2019 within the scope of his duty at that time, and emphasized that the point reached was indeed a diplomatic success within the scope of the foreign policy carried out under the leadership of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
Underlining that the agreement was shaped according to the principles of Turkish foreign policy, supporting peace and stability and based on a win-win principle, Fidan said, "Of course, the trust of our Libyan brothers in Türkiye and the stability that will come to the Eastern Mediterranean are extremely important." he said.
"IT IS AN EXTREMELY LEGITIMATE AGREEMENT BOTH LEGALLY AND POLITICALLY"
On the other hand, regarding the countries that reacted to this agreement, Fidan said, "We know why they react to us. Some of them react because they have to react. Some of them really have strategic problems regarding this issue. But this is an extremely legitimate agreement, both legally and politically. There is no need to discuss it." he said.
In fact, Fidan stated that, according to Turkish lawyers, the agreement signed in 2019 was actually already in force due to its technique, and said, "What was done in the (Libya Representatives) Parliament was essentially an acceptance process, not an approval process, according to our lawyers. We already saw this as a valid agreement as of 2019." he said.
Fidan reiterated that this was a success of Turkish diplomacy and said, "Hopefully, we will continue to bring similar successes to our people. Our aim is to bring stability, peace, tranquility and happiness in the Mediterranean, as everywhere else. Apart from this, our diplomacy has no purpose." he said.
