Tell Secretary Rubio: Reject the Turkey-Libya maritime memorandum
and protect U.S. interests

Dear Secretary Rubio,

We are writing to ask the State Department to take a clear public position against the Turkey-Libya maritime memorandum.

Our European allies have made their opposition clear. On October 21, the EU, with the backing of all 27 member states, said the memorandum violates the sovereign rights of third states, does not comply with the Law of the Sea, and is “null and void and cannot produce any legal consequences for third States.” Egypt and Israel, two of the U.S.’s closest partners in the region, issued rejections of their own.

The State Department’s response the next day said only that it encourages partners to “resolve maritime disputes through good-faith negotiation” and that Greece and Turkey, as NATO allies, should talk bilaterally. That is weaker than the position the Department took when the memorandum was first signed, when it called the agreement “unhelpful and provocative.” If Washington declines to address the legal question, Ankara and Tripoli will take this silence as tacit acceptance of their illegal and revisionist actions. 

The memorandum now reaches well beyond Greece and Turkey. It puts concrete American interests at risk.

In February, Chevron signed leases to operate four offshore exploration blocks in Greece with a 70 percent interest, including South Crete 1 and South Crete 2. Libya has formally protested Greek exploration in those waters, and Turkey’s Defense Ministry has claimed the Chevron blocks overlap with the zone the memorandum assigns to Libya. ExxonMobil holds exploration rights as operator in two blocks west and southwest of Crete and has carried out seismic surveys there since 2022. These projects support Europe’s effort to replace Russian gas and serve the wider U.S. energy strategy in the region.

The Department’s own statement noted that settling maritime disputes “opens the way for commercial investment and exploration.” The reverse is also true. American companies cannot commit capital to deepwater exploration while two governments claim the authority to draw a boundary that ignores Crete.

Crete is also home to Naval Support Activity Souda Bay, one of the most important U.S. and NATO facilities in the Eastern Mediterranean. Attempts to contest maritime jurisdiction around the island add instability to the security environment surrounding that base and potentially endanger U.S. defense assets.

We ask that you:

1. State publicly that the memorandum cannot create legal rights or obligations for third countries, including Greece.
2. Affirm Greece’s sovereign rights under international law, including the maritime zones generated by its islands.
3. Make clear to Ankara and Tripoli that unilateral maritime claims will not be permitted to interfere with lawful exploration by American companies.
4. Coordinate a common position with the EU and our regional partners.

Turkey and Libya should not be allowed to create facts on the ground at the expense of a NATO ally, U.S. security interests, and American companies working lawfully in Greek waters. The U.S. position should be at least as clear as Europe’s.

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