Greece’s chief diplomat arrived Sunday in Cairo for talks with Egyptian officials on issues including controversial maritime and gas deals that Türkiye signed with Libyas Government of National Unity (GNU), officials said. Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias landed in Cairo’s airport before heading for talks with his Egyptian counterpart, Sameh Shoukry, according to Egypt’s Foreign Ministry. The ministry said the two ministers would hold a news conference afterwards. Egypt and Greece have strengthened ties in recent years, including cooperation in fields ranging from energy to combating terrorism. The two nations, along with Cyprus, have signed maritime border agreements. Ahmed Abu Zeid, the ministrys spokesman, described Egyptian-Greek ties as “a long-standing strategic partnership and historic friendship.” Dendias wrote on Twitter ahead of his trip that besides Greece-Egypt ties, the talks would focus on developments in the Aegean Sea, Libya and the Middle East. He was likely referring to tensions with Türkiye over the alleged deployment of dozens of US-made armored vehicles by Greece to the Aegean islands of Samos and Lesbos. He also pointed to memorandums of understanding between Türkiye and the GNU of Abdul Hamid al-Dbeibah, one of Libya’s two competing governments. The deals, signed last week in the Libyan capital of Tripoli, include the joint exploration of hydrocarbon reserves in Libya’s offshore waters and national territory. Dendias slammed the deals as illegal, saying they infringed on Greek waters. Egypts Foreign Ministry also argued that Dbeibahs government has “no authority to conclude any international agreements nor memorandums of understanding,” given that its mandate expired. Jalel Harchaoui, a Libya expert with the Royal United Services Institute, a defense and security think tank, said Türkiye’s deals with Dbeibah’s government, which have “little legal value,” were meant to provoke Greece. They were “part of the politics of hyper-nationalistic assertiveness that a weak, unpopular (President Recep Tayyip) Erdogan seeks to cultivate as he goes into the June 2023 elections,” he said. Erdogan’s government exploited Dbeibah’s weakened position after Türkiye helped him defend his position in Tripoli when head of the rival east-based government, Fathi Bashagha, attempted in August to install his government in the capital, Harchaoui said. Türkiye has troops and allied Syrian mercenaries on the ground in the Libyan capital. “Dbeibah was in no position to say ‘No’ to the (memorandums of understanding). Türkiye has played a decisive role in maintaining him in Tripoli thus far, so he has no choice but to say ‘Yes’,” he said in written comments. Dbeibah defended the deals, saying they would help Libya pursue oil and gas exploration “in our territorial waters with the help of neighboring countries.” Türkiye’s agreements with Dbeibah’s government came three years after another controversial agreement between Ankara and a former Tripoli government. That 2019 deal granted Türkiye access to a contested economic zone in the gas-rich eastern Mediterranean Sea region, fueling Türkiye’s pre-existing tensions with Greece, Cyprus and Egypt over oil and gas drilling rights in the region.