Turkey's foreign minister signed a deal in Libya's capital allowing for oil and gas exploration in Libya's Mediterranean waters, three years after a maritime border deal that angered European nations.

"We've signed a memorandum of understanding on exploration for hydrocarbons in Libya's territorial waters and on Libyan soil, by mixed Turkish-Libyan companies," Mevlut Cavusoglu said in Tripoli.

The deal follows an agreement Turkey signed with authorities in Tripoli in 2019, which demarcated the countries' shared maritime borders but sparked anger in Greece and Cyprus.

Cavusoglu, however, stressed that the new accord was between "two sovereign countries – it's win-win for both, and other countries have no right to interfere."

Najla al-Mangoush, foreign minister in Libya's Government of National Unity, said the new deal was "important," especially in light of "the Ukrainian crisis and its repercussions" for energy markets.

Cavusoglu was accompanied in Tripoli by a high-level delegation also including Turkey's energy, defense and trade ministers.

Turkey continues to play a major role in Libya's west, where rival governments are again struggling for control two years after the end of the last major conflict.