Greece expels Libyan ambassador in row with Turkey

Greece’s foreign minister says his country is expelling the Libyan ambassador, the latest escalation of a dispute over a controversial deal between Libya’s UN-supported government and Turkey on maritime boundaries in the Mediterranean

Greece expelled the Libyan ambassador Friday, the latest escalation of a dispute over a controversial deal signed between Libya’s U.N.-supported government and Turkey on maritime boundaries in the Mediterranean.

Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias said the ambassador had been summoned to the ministry to be informed of the decision. He has been given 72 hours to leave the country, the minister said.

The deal reached between Libya and Turkey would give Turkey access to an economic zone across the Mediterranean, over the objections of Greece, Cyprus and Egypt, which lie between Turkey and Libya geographically. All three have blasted the accord as contrary to international law.

The deal “constitutes a raw violation of the law of the sea and of the sovereign rights of Greece and of other countries,” Dendias said, adding it was a deliberate attempt to create tension “both on a bilateral and on a regional level.”