Turkey says notifies UN of maritime jurisdiction borders with Libya

ANKARA -- Turkey has notified the United Nations of the area of delimitation of the maritime jurisdiction between Turkey and Libya, semi-official Anadolu Agency reported Thursday.

The notification came after Turkey and Libya's UN-backed government sealed the two memorandums of understanding "The Security and Military Cooperation" and "Restriction of Marine Jurisdictions" on Nov 27.

The two agreements establish 18.6 nautical miles of continental shelf and Exclusive Economic Zone boundary line between Turkey and Libya, Anadolu quoted anonymous diplomatic sources as saying.

The agreements took effect on Dec 8 after being published on the official gazettes of both countries.

From Dec 8, Turkey "has the right to prevent'' any unauthorized drilling in these waters, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Wednesday.

Asked if Turkey could use military means to stop such attempts, the minister said "of course.''

Greece, Egypt, and Cyprus have denounced the deal as being contrary to international law, and Greece expelled the Libyan ambassador last week over the dispute.