ANKARA: The foreign ministers of Somalia and Ethiopia will meet in Ankara next week to hold talks over a port deal Addis Ababa signed with the breakaway region of Somaliland earlier this year, said Turkish foreign minister Hakan Fidan on Friday.
Türkiye is mediating negotiations between the East African neighbours, whose relations became strained in January when Ethiopia agreed to lease 20 km of coastline from Somaliland, in exchange for recognition of its independence.
Mogadishu called the agreement illegal and expelled the Ethiopian ambassador while threatening to kick out thousands of Ethiopian troops stationed in the country helping to combat insurgency.
Foreign Ministers of Somalia and Ethiopia met in Ankara last month along with Fidan to discuss their issues and agreed to hold another round of discussions.
Fidan at a news conference in Istanbul, said a second round of talks between Somalia and Ethiopia will be held in Ankara next week. Fidan’s announcement came a week after he visited Ethiopia and met Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed. “We discussed these issues with Prime Minister Abiy in detail,” Fidan said.
“Tensions between Somalia and Ethiopia would come to an end with Ethiopia’s access to the seas through Somalia as long as Ethiopia’s recognition of Somalia’s territorial integrity and political sovereignty is secured.”
Türkiye is a close ally of the Somali government. Ankara has constructed schools, hospitals and infrastructure and provided scholarships for Somalis to study in Turkey.
Türkiye in 2017 opened its biggest overseas military base in Mogadishu. Earlier this year, Türkiye and Somalia signed an economic and defence cooperation agreement.
