Turkey is interested in an offer from Tripoli to carry out energy exploration offshore Libya, Turkish Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar said on Wednesday. “Libya has offered to us to work with our seismic vessels offshore. Frankly, we are warm to this. So we can be in the Libyan offshore to carry out seismic work,” he told the state-owned Anadolu news agency.

In 2020, Turkey sent military personnel to Libya to train and support a Tripoli-based government against eastern commander Khalifa Haftar’s forces, the Libyan National Army. Later that year it agreed with Tripoli a maritime demarcation accord, which was disputed by Egypt and Greece.

In 2022, Ankara and Tripoli also signed a preliminary accord on energy exploration, which Egypt and Greece oppose.

Turkey has been at odds with Greece over maritime jurisdiction in the eastern Mediterranean. Disputes over hydrocarbon exploration strained ties between Ankara, Greece and the European Union, though relations improved in recent years as tensions have eased.