Turkish defense minister accuses Greece of violating Libyan continental shelf

Turkey's defense minister Hulusi Akar has presented maps to the Libyan government in a bid to indicate that Greece is trying to encroach upon Libya's continental shelf, according to reports in Turkey's Yeni Safak newspaper.

In its reports, the newspaper accuses Greece of "stealing Libya's EEZ," referring to the country's exclusive economic zone.

The reports are accompanied by two maps that Akar is alleged to have shown to Libyan government officials.

According to one of the maps, neither Cyprus or Crete influence marine zones, meaning that there can be sea borders between Turkey and Libya. Such a scenario overlooks the existence of the Greek continental shelf in the eastern Mediterranean.

During a recent visit to Tripoli, Akar reportedly claimed that Greece is exploiting the instability that followed the overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi with an eye to usurping a large section of the Libyan continental shelf, something, he claimed, that Greece has done to Turkey too.