Greek PM calls Turkey-Libya maritime deal void, calls for global truce

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said on Thursday that the recently signed maritime deal between Libya's eastern parliament and Turkey was

"blatantly illegal, null and void," adding that it "completely disregards the geography."



Mitsotakis, speaking to Reuters as Greece ends its UN Security Council presidency, also called for an urgent "international truce" to protect shipping in the Black Sea after the sinking of a Greek-owned container vessel on Wednesday.



Libya's eastern parliament last week approved a maritime boundaries deal with Turkey, drawing condemnation from Athens, but also Egypt, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates, as a threat to regional security and international legal order.



"It completely disregards the geography, the reality that there are Greek islands -- they seem to completely disappear in the thinking of Turkey and Libya," Mitsotakis said, accusing them of attempting to create a "fait accompli" that ignores the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.