Greece has reiterated its complete rejection of the Turkey–Libya maritime memorandum in a formal letter to the United Nations Secretary-General.
The letter argues that the agreement disregards Greek islands' rights, explicitly referring to Crete and the Dodecanese.
Dated 22 October 2026, it is signed by Greece's Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador Aglaia Balta.
It was published on 4 November as an official document of the General Assembly's eighty-first session, numbered A/81/455.
The intervention responds to the recent decision by eastern Libya's House of Representatives to approve the maritime-delimitation memorandum signed with Turkey on 27 November 2019.
Explicit references to Crete and the Dodecanese
Greece's central argument is that Turkey and Libya do not have opposite or adjacent coasts that justify the common maritime boundary set out in the memorandum.
Athens says the agreement ignores Greek islands lying between the two countries and their entitlement to maritime zones beyond territorial waters.
The letter states that the memorandum “completely disregards the existence of numerous Greek islands, including Crete and the Dodecanese”.
The reference is particularly significant for the Dodecanese, reaffirming Greece's position that islands have rights to a continental shelf and an Exclusive Economic Zone under the international law of the sea.
Athens describes the memorandum's boundary as an arbitrary redrawing of geography that disregards third states' rights.
Athens calls the memorandum null and void
The Greek Government argues that approval by the Libyan House of Representatives does not change the memorandum's legal character or make it effective against Greece.
The letter describes it as contrary to the international law of the sea and, in Greece's view, illegal, null and void, with no legal consequences.
Athens also rejects actions based on the agreement's 2019 coordinates insofar as they violate Greek sovereign rights.
Publication as an official UN document records Greece's diplomatic position. It is not a UN ruling on the memorandum's legality.
Objections over hydrocarbon activities
The letter also addresses the later Turkey–Libya memorandum on hydrocarbon cooperation, signed on 3 October 2022.
Greece again objects to actions based on the 2019 delimitation, saying any activities violating its sovereign rights or jurisdiction would breach international law.
It also challenges maritime claims made by Libya in a May 2025 diplomatic note, describing them as unsupported and legally unfounded.
Commitment to peaceful settlement
Despite the letter's firm tone, Athens reaffirms its commitment to settling maritime-delimitation issues with neighbouring states peacefully and on the basis of international law.
It cites Greece's maritime agreements with Italy and Egypt as examples.
The intervention keeps Greece's objections formally recorded at the UN, with particular emphasis on the maritime rights of Crete and the Dodecanese.
