Turkey To Serve as Mediator in Somali-Ethiopia Port Talks
Turkey hosted diplomatic representatives from Ethiopia and Somalia for talks earlier this year, following the former’s announcement of a port deal with breakaway Somaliland in exchange for eventual recognition of sovereignty.
In January of this year, the Somali government was enraged by news of landlocked Ethiopia’s plan to lease 20 miles of coastline from the unrecognized government of Somaliland. Mogadishu went on to expel the Ethiopian ambassador and threatened to remove all Ethiopian troops stationed in the country.
Turkey’s foreign ministry said envoys from both countries traveled to Ankara earlier this week to meet with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan for what is slated to be only the first meeting in a series. Fidan noted that the talks were productive. All three parties signed a joint statement pledging to continue discussions and reach an agreement “within a mutually acceptable framework.”
September 2 is the scheduled date for the second round of talks.
Despite receiving no recognition from other nations, Somaliland separated from Somalia in 1991 and has since governed itself as a de facto independent state. Despite the lack of recognition, Somaliland has enjoyed a far greater level of stability than Somalia itself.
A spokesperson from Somaliland said they were not included in the Turkish-led talks.
