President Erdoğan welcomes Libyan parliament's approval of maritime deal with Türkiye

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Wednesday welcomed Libya's eastern-based House of Representatives' approval of a maritime jurisdiction agreement between Türkiye and Libya.

"Yesterday, we received extremely pleasing news from Libya," Erdoğan told a parliamentary group meeting of his Justice and Development (AK) Party in the capital Ankara.

"The Libyan House of Representatives unanimously approved the Memorandum of Understanding on the Delimitation of Maritime Jurisdiction Areas signed between Türkiye and Libya. I hope this important decision will be beneficial and auspicious," he said.

Erdoğan also sent his greetings to all members of the Libyan House of Representatives.

Libya's House of Representatives on Tuesday unanimously approved the memorandum of understanding signed between Türkiye and Libya's then-Government of National Accord in 2019 on the delimitation of maritime jurisdiction areas in the Mediterranean.

The eastern-based parliament also repealed a 2020 resolution rejecting the ratification of agreements signed with Türkiye, reversing its previous opposition to the maritime deal.

Türkiye and Libya signed the memorandum in November 2019 to establish the boundaries of their respective maritime jurisdiction areas in the Mediterranean.

Erdoğan also addressed defense cooperation between Türkiye, Saudi Arabia, and Pakistan, saying their joint defense agreement had been submitted to the Turkish parliament for ratification.

"We have submitted the joint defense agreement we signed with Pakistan and Saudi Arabia to our parliament for ratification," he said.

Following the parliamentary group meeting, Erdoğan also responded to reporters' questions about a potential visit to Damascus.

Asked whether a date had been set for his visit to Damascus, Erdoğan said: "Not yet. We will make (the visit)."