Turkish MoD: Türkiye Ready to Sign Maritime Delimitation Agreement With Egypt
Türkiye’s Ministry of National Defence (MSB), at its weekly press briefing, stressed once again that it is ready to sign an agreement on the delimitation of maritime jurisdiction areas with Egypt on the basis of mutual interests. The statement was made by MSB spokesperson Rear Adm. Zeki Aktürk.
What the Ministry Said
The ministry called the 20 October 2026 approval by Libya’s House of Representatives of the 2019 Türkiye–Libya maritime jurisdiction memorandum an important development. In that framework it said it is ready to sign a similar agreement with Egypt on the basis of mutual interests.
In the ministry’s assessment, if Egypt signs such an agreement with Türkiye it would obtain more than 15,000 square kilometres more maritime jurisdiction than under a possible agreement with Greece. The ministry added that Türkiye will continue to protect its legitimate rights and interests in the Eastern Mediterranean under international law and to contribute to regional peace, security and stability. The 15,000 km² figure is the ministry’s own assessment and has not been independently verified.
Friendship Sea-2026
The weekly briefing also announced that the joint Turkish–Egyptian naval exercise Friendship Sea-2026 will take place in Alexandria, Egypt, on 4–9 November, with surface, anti-submarine, air-defence and underwater-attack training involving elements of both navies.
Background
We earlier reported on the ministry’s reaction on the Libya memorandum (in Turkish).
Note
The report rests on statements at the MSB’s weekly briefing on 28 October, confirmed through press reports. No official Egyptian response was found.
