The Libyan government in Tripoli signed a preliminary agreement with Turkey yesterday, Monday, October 3, 2022, regarding energy exploration, which prompted Greece and Egypt to announce their opposition to any activity in the disputed areas in the Eastern Mediterranean.

The agreement was also rejected by the parliament based in eastern Libya, which supports the government of Fathi Bashagha.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu and Libyan Foreign Minister Najla Al-Mangoush said at a ceremony held in Tripoli that the deal is one of several agreements within a memorandum of understanding on economic issues aimed at benefiting the two countries.

It was not immediately clear whether any actual projects involving exploration work in the "exclusive economic zone," agreed upon by Turkey and a previous government in Tripoli in 2019, which angered other Eastern Mediterranean countries, would emerge.

From the perspective of that exclusive economic zone, the two countries share a maritime border, which was rejected by Greece and Cyprus and criticized by Egypt and the occupying state.

In response to a question about whether other countries might object to the new memorandum of understanding, Cavusoglu said: "We do not care what they think," adding that "other countries have no right to intervene."