Former admiral estimates value of Libya-Turkey deal at up to $30 trillion

The former Chief of Staff of the Turkish Naval Forces, Admiral Cihat Yaci says there are worth 30 trillion dollars of natural gas north of the Libyan maritime jurisdiction, adding that the area targeted in the MoU recently signed between Turkey and Libya includes the richest hydrocarbon deposits in the world.

On Monday, the Libyan side signed two agreements on energy and gas. The deal was inked by Foreign Minister Najla Al-Manqoush and Minister of Economy and Trade Muhammad Al-Hawij with their Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu and Fatih Donmez. The agreement drew contradictory reactions locally, regionally, and internationally.

The Turkish Haber 7 website quoted Admiral Yaci as saying on Wednesday, that Turkish ships can start seismic research and survey activities within a few months. Regarding Greece’s objections to the agreement, he noted Athena wants “to swallow up an area the size of four Cypriot islands in the Mediterranean.”

Yaci -nicknamed the architect of the maritime agreement between Ankara and Tripoli- revealed details about his meetings in Istanbul with representatives of Libya’s eastern region.

“I explained to them, through maps and data, that they had acquired a marine area not less than the size of four Cypriot islands, or 40,000 square kilometers, characterized for being rich in oil and gas.”

He stressed the importance of starting exploration and drilling activities in the area between the east of the line drawn in the agreement demarcating the borders of the Libyan-Turkish maritime jurisdiction area and west of the longitude of 28 degrees east.

“We need to start activities immediately, as no seismic research has been conducted so far.”

Yaci underscored the need to put plans into action and commence the first steps to establish the fact that “we do not recognize the Seville map in the eastern Mediterranean.”