It a fights over control of the Mediterranean Sea libya and turkey draw back injury line in the border but says it in the middle as the greek island of crete and sense the new violates International Law so whats at stake and could it lead to Armed Conflicts this is inside story. That. Hello and welcome to the program im hala mohit in greece and turkey are told so over a host of issues but the latest has pushed them closer to a military confrontation turkey has signed a deal with libya that map cites a boundary in the east of the Mediterranean Sea greece has respond by expelling the libyan ambassador and his bolstering its military in the area there are fears the agreements will further complicate disputes over drilling for yet on tap the oil and gas in waters around the ethnically Divided Island nation of cyprus israel and egypt are also involved in this increasingly bitter controversy. Well the agreements between turkey and libya was signs at the end of last month that basically draws a line in the eastern Mediterranean Sea between turkey and libya cutting across a strip also claims by greece well the matter of time boundaries separates what turkey and libya have agreed will be their exclusive Economic Zone they say this gives them full rights. Exploit Natural Resources including oil and gas well the deal comes as turkish ships continue exploration and drilling activities in disputed waters around cyprus well bring in our guest shortly but 1st John Psaropoulos reports from athens the Greek Foreign minister has summoned the libyan ambassador. And informed him this morning that he has 72 hours to leave the country the greek anger against libya stems from not only the fact that libya signed a treaty with turkey which deal linear its an exclusive Economic Zone between those 2 countries that falls across what greece sees as its own exclusive Economic Zone in the southeast of dzyan and the middle of the Mediterranean Sea but also because the Greek Foreign minister had understood from his discussions with the libyan ambassador and also with the Libyan Foreign minister that this agreement would not be signed so the greek side it expresses the feeling that there has been an element of deceit from the Libyan Government or at least that the greek government was misled the greeks are also making contact with all of their key allies in the European Union and nato but also china and russia and israel to gather as much International Support as possible for the law of the sea which in the greek reading of it ascribed to islands a Continental Shelf and exclusive Economic Zone. If that reading of the law is correct then greek greece should have an exclusive Economic Zone that extends into the area thats now been divided but between libya and turkey turkey has a different view it does not believe that the International Law of the sea necessarily gives islands an exclusive Economic Zone and it has held to that position very consistently over the years it also has a condemned today the expulsion of the libyan ambassador from athens the greek side were given to understand by defense and Foreign Policy sources has communicated to turkey in no Uncertain Terms that should a turkish exploration vessel enter the area the greece deems as its own exclusive Economic Zone then greek naval forces will fire upon that vessel and sink it with all of the repercussions that could follow from such an event. Well lets bring in todays guests joining us from london is eg a set can a Political Risk analyst focusing on turkey at i. H. S. Markets in istanbul by skype Matthew Price a senior fellow at the Atlantic CouncilsEurasia Center and Global Energy center and the former u. S. Diplomat and also joining us from london and. General director of the set that institute where he focuses on Libyan Affairs gentlemen welcome to you all if i could start with you agha said skin this is a controversial deal which has been proposed between libya and turkey its resulted in the expulsion of the libyan ambassador from greece why do you think this is so controversial whats wrong with this deal well i wont say theres something necessarily wrong with it but the controversy comes from the fact that this is turkeys move against what has been an attempt to create a fact a complete on its on the Southern Side of its of its territories by a coalition of countries including greece including cyprus and others. Of course having to do with the disputes of over of the Hydrocarbon Resources our own cyprus. In cyprus disappeared government has been moving forward with plans to export those resources in a manner that would end up excluding turkey and whether this deal with the 1000000 government. What turkey is trying to do is basically leapfrog the territory which would be eventual route of a plan pipeline into europe from cyprus so this is turkeys response in what has been a long story for ok let me take those points to Matthew Brize matthew nothing wrong with this deal theyre simply reacting to a fetter accompli. It very much depends who you are certainly if youre turkey that is your view you believe that because greece decided to drop its maritime time boundary in a way that you think is not in accordance with International Law whereby too much value is accorded to crete then you believe that greece has taken over Libyan Maritime territory and then as as we just heard has created a unified sort of collection of exclusive Economic Zones stretching from from cyprus all the way to greece where the pipeline could be built if youre greece however or cyprus or egypt you believe that turkey in fact should be granting the island of crete the greek island of crete greater force in determining the greek maritime boundary and in that case it wouldnt be fair for this new boundary to be to be drawn so where you stand is where you sit as often happens in International Law and what ends up being right is simply what ends up being accepted as being right but you know this is an actual agreement between 2 internationally recognized countries and so while im not sure it will hold up in the long run for now turkey has and many have created a fait accompli so why do you think greece is so unhappy then if this is given that why are they why are they so distressed to the point of expelling a bats that day. Well number one they want this pipeline which by the way i think does not make economic sense its such a much longer more expensive route and then bringing a lot of the gas especially from israel to turkey but number 2 theres a long history here of maritime disputes between turkey and greece and the central component of that dispute is again how valuable are islands in determining the National Coastline and the exclusive Economic Zone which is not sovereign territory of a country but its where countries have exclusive rights and this is such a testy issue between turkey and greece because many greek island. A but right up cracked the against turkeys coast so if too much value is given to those islands in determining maritime boundaries turkey ends up risking getting bodily and losing so many rights in the Mediterranean Sea that it otherwise would enjoy and essentially cutting its Maritime Territory almost in half ok lets set tonight. On us and what were hearing this is a dispute between turkey and greece why is libya getting involved. Well it was certainly the johnny come lately to this kind of view and this this crowd of a crowd of kind of conflict for such a long time its been more than a couple of years its been decades as you and your guests of indicated but that we cant wrench this from its original context and libyas case its been involved in a conflict for the last 8 months. There have been a number of different challenges to the sovereignty to the human existentially to the Libyan Government to its base in tripoli from the father who is supported by many countries within the e. U. Or many countries within the u. N. Security council who have nots kind of lived up to the to the expectations here diplomatically that the Libyan Government tripoli is the internationally recognized government by the e. U. By the u. N. But the u. N. And you have stood by idly as there has been bombing the capital tripoli and as been cutting into the into the southern neighborhoods of tripoli so in that sense libya has kind of waded into a conflict but it has waded in. Effectively because its problems are busting at the seams for the last 8 months on the 1st of them is why is the u. N. And why the e. U. Sitting by idly and not supporting a government that it brought into existence and the number 2 if that is going to be the case in the Libyan Government is perhaps more than that the fact that there is a moral outrage and diplomatic at rage and silence about the moral outrage and diplomatic outrage over what is happening in libya so i think in that respect its the most potent of problems but i think that his role here is not only that it you know is going to contest and perhaps never in its lifetime even bring anything meaningful to a deal that may not you know may not transpire with a key but the very fact that it contests it disrupts the kind of confidence that International OilCompanies Need to be able to explore in the area to be able to explore the vet the valuable treasures underneath the water and and with that being solved there is no way in hell. That any International Company was going to go in and try to explore for gas so i think in that respect its kind of Mission Accomplished for the turks and that means the move would you say then and this isnt a serious proposal this is a cry for help from libya to help this isnt to deal with oils knowledge of carbons its to do with we want to help with the civil war that were in and nobody is coming to her aid. Well its a future of conflict and then its become almost like a pantomime the very fact that you know the International Community silence with what is happening in libya has really forced that and because this deal has so much more to do with the defense accords and the security arrangements that will be built on the back of this deal with libya and between libya and turkey in that respect they need to be able to bring in weapons they need to be able to bring in a partner that will help them and turkey kind of stretched its hand and gave libya that lifeline that it was looking for and thats the real basis as well as the why libya has weighed in into this conflict and i think thats the reason why there is so much more selective and i think thats the problem that many will find today particularly as libya goes towards a onlies month and the International Community begins to look at ways in which it wants to solve the courses it has to look at the International Partners and and actors that are involved in this and libya has now kind of played as hand sitting back for the last 9 months hoping that the u. N. Will do something hoping that the European Union will do something and i think thats but a much more forceful hand in this respect and it showed a bit more teeth ok eg a set if i could bring you in on this in terms of this deal itself what is it about is it about hydrocarbons or is it about geopolitical strength of herod there from libya is quite keen to get the focus on helping with this conflict that they are in and if you look at the nuts and bolts of this deal it seems to defy geography here lines going diagonally encompassing suites of water that belong to crete so if its turkey is serious about getting this deal done or are there other issues at play. Turkey is very serious and i think what is being perceived by turkey on its Southern Front is an attempt to box the country and so this deal really has i would argue and i guess central value for the country in fact we have seen elements in the Turkish Military including the chief of the turkish navy currently they have been advocating for such a deal for about 10 years so this is not new and this is not a temporary tactical shift but a natural extension of that intention which has been the case for quite a while and of course there are other considerations domestically we cannot disregard the fact that the president and on is rallying its support base with such moves we have seen a great deal of support for that the or the mass to greet some 85 percent of the population support turkeys actions in the mediterranean and we also saw in the parliament the deal being passed by the opposition parties with record breaking speed in one business day in fact so this is an indication of the domestic dimension also involved which is important but of course not the only consideration were seeing a marriage here between the do Strategic Imperatives and dawns personal domestic concerns especially i should add in the context of the defeats he suffered early on 21000. Of overcoming that psychological defeats and and really gaining the upper hand once again domestically but again its i mean i see the police its here i mean the 2nd is doing a deal with. The government of National Unity which doesnt control the area instead its mapping out in this fails at least to create expecting to get this today. So that will depend on the direction which the civil war takes in libya and it is for this reason that turkey has been investing heavily. On the on the genocide theyve been supporting the government militarily and we think that this whole probably intensified turkey will really need to go all in so to speak to make sure that the tripoli government survives and establishes itself as a permanent entity because the alternative really for turkey is getting completely box then losing access to these Natural Resources on a stores that and the mediterranean and ultimately that would be a severe strategic defeat for the country and a big embarrassment for the president ok Matthew Bright it sounds like turkey are fairly serious sparrow lane on this according to exit skin. Where does the think race. Well its precisely because turkey is so adamant about this that greece is apoplectic and greece is i think worried because the Greek Cypriots are worried because this agreement sets a precedent on cyprus we were talking about cyprus at the beginning so now theres a natural gas field offshore israel called leviathan the most natural and most economically attractive way for that gas to get to the market if it ever gets to any market would be to turkey i mean but the Greek Cypriots have said well our exclusive Economic Zone is where the pipeline has to cross and we dont like this pipeline so what that is done is then it is it makes it very difficult for any financiers and any banks to support such a pipeline and therefore that damages the investment but it really makes turkey feel as if something unfair is happening because of the history of the cyprus question the cyprus question dates back i mean there though the dispute to the treaties and the constitution of the republic of cyprus in 1960 that grants a Turkish Cypriots certain rights and rights to participate in any decision of National Importance including hydrocarbons. And those rights were abrogated unilaterally by the Greek Cypriots i dont have to go into the whole history but turkey has felt it was trying to support an agreement to reunify the island to overcome these disputes under u. N. Auspices and that the Greek Cypriots torpedoed that agreement which was on the table 2 years ago under u. N. Auspices so if the Greek Cypriots were using the leverage of their exclusive Economic Zone at that time to block a project turkey favored i think turkeys feeling what were setting up precedent of our own how to block a pipeline in greece lots and so we have a battle of pipelines and this time greeces is on the side it doesnt want to be on here do you think in this case Matthew Price of the has the upper hand here because as he mentions that the issue with cyprus has been going on for decades and they are no closer to any resolution on it and states were saying tensions ramp up on a separate fronts where it says when it does greece go from here. Well greece where it goes is it it pursues International Solidarity you know it has elicited statements of solidarity by other e. U. Member states that you Member States really stick together to support each other and then greece has strong friends in the United States and the u. S. Ambassador to greece a friend of mine just came out of the norm that this agreement could risk further further destabilization of libya if there could be such a thing by the way so greece is going to look for International Solidarity who has the upper hand though i think is going to end up being who is bold its turkey has begun drilling offshore cyprus and that is engendered condemnation from the Greek Cypriots from greece from the e. U. Threats of sanctions and it may go ahead and do something similar having to do with with this new agreement and if push will come to shove and the question will be will well what will the e. U. Actually do if turkey continues to assert this crown i think were going to be an ambiguity for a while and as was just settled gently whether this agreement holds is going to depend on the outcome of the libyan civil war and on that subject and i said which way do you see this going because there is not another dimension which has been added to it so that libya is a key point and what were seeing international saw as i say potentially had bolstering around greece but turkey has a strong handsome play here as i do you say this playing ice. Well im not so sure that all of the International Bodies are as strong and as robust as they once seem to have been i think natos internal count configuration right now is being threatened by the money on my corn statements in recent weeks about nato being brain dead turkey is a critical member of nato and the coalition so its going spare i think turkeys you know at the moment perhaps has the upper hand i would say the European Union no one needs to you know unable to speak too much about the use own crisis in its own. Miscalculations perhaps even in libya with franco talian rivalry there also so i think many of these bodies or are facing extreme stresses that they have never faced before and they are also existential i mean nato as you know nato is a time where its never been under so much stress the e. U. Is also a time with evidence and under some stress and i think playing this card at this hand for turkey has been critical in terms of libyas civil war i think its really really difficult to tell i mean theyre counting it and i think the jna is counting its losses in its victories by inches and thats why most of what is happening outside of libya is to no concern and less is linked to getting a lifeline and thats whats archys role really comes in i think this deal particularly in the under part of the deal the footnotes of this deal which will be ready going to be lucrative for the Libyan Government the g. And a about trying to bring in more of a Shopping List for how it defends the capital and then if it if it so deems in the next couple of weeks a couple of months it wants to begin to stress the eastern part of libya had a father stronghold thats what we may see where you know turkish and libyan kind of ideas and of coalition and begin to really kind of ramp up and thats what this Shopping List becomes interesting drones or even much more than the small number that arrived in early april but we could also be on the personal vehicles but i think its also Technical Assistance and Mitra Systems on the libyan front and thats where today most of the problems are. Libyas southern or tripoli is so the neighborhood with with. With russian mercenaries that have arrived in recent weeks of been capturing the headlines the idea that a conference may be taking place on may not be taking place its such a complicated mess right now and adding to the stress at least beldens the libyan and the turkish side d in any future negotiations but in the short run that offense or cause are going to be really really critical for whether or not the general has legs ok and if i could turn to you know again such good we are running low on time but it seems a high stakes situation the situation could turn either way depending on how this is played how far is it is turkey prepared to go or for this greece has said its a willing to send their navy down to to defend their interests how far is turkey likely to go. Will it come to blows do you think this could come to an eventual conflict a conflict is at this current point in time to far fetched as an eventuality but turkey will show its military muscles. We are seeing already the gunboat diplomacy which turkey has been employing around cyprus this is likely to continue and this is also a natural result of the fact that on the diplomatic front turkey has really run out of options and here im referring to the fact that turkey has made a lot of enemies in the neighborhood whether were talking about egypt or i mean greece and cyprus were already the case but turkey has been unable to form a coalition in the region that would. Basically defend its interests so really the only resort for turkey right now is as military. Posturing and we will see that continue and we will likely even see the extension of the gunboat diplomacy turkey has been displaying to the vicinity of crete and that could really get into an escalatory pathway and i think that would be the main risk to watch out for. Ok im afraid jensen we have run knights of time but certainly a critical situation and one we will continue to follow and aljazeera but for now. 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Gunfire was again heard in parts of baghdad sending people running for cover on friday nights a group of armed men attacked protesters near the square killing at least 20 people more than 70 others were wounded and in what seems to be a related escalation sources close to the prominent shia cleric. Say his home has been hit by a drone strike it happened in the province of jeff were still getting details but his party says also was not in the country at the time of this attack though such a body has more on the reports of that attack aimed at one of the most power