The foreign ministers of Somalia and Ethiopia are scheduled to convene in Ankara next week to address their contentions regarding a port agreement. Earlier in the year, Ethiopia entered into a pact with the self-declared autonomous region of Somaliland, which has since soured the diplomatic relations between the two nations.
Turkey is orchestrating the negotiations between these East African neighbors. Under the deal, Ethiopia consented to lease a 20-kilometer stretch of coastal land from Somaliland in return for acknowledging its sovereignty. However, the Somali government in Mogadishu denounced the deal as unlawful and responded by dismissing the Ethiopian ambassador and threatening to expel the numerous Ethiopian soldiers aiding in the fight against Islamist militants within Somalia.
In the previous month, the foreign ministers of Somalia and Ethiopia, alongside Turkey’s Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, met in Ankara to deliberate on their differences and concurred to engage in further discussions.
During a press briefing in Istanbul, Minister Fidan declared that a subsequent series of dialogues between Somalia and Ethiopia is slated for the following week in Ankara. This revelation followed his visit to Addis Ababa, where he met with Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.
Minister Fidan elaborated on the discussions with Prime Minister Abiy, stating, “We examined these matters thoroughly with Prime Minister Abiy. The discord between Somalia and Ethiopia could be resolved with Ethiopia’s maritime access through Somalia, provided that Ethiopia acknowledges Somalia’s territorial integrity and political sovereignty.”
In recent times, Turkey has solidified its alliance with the Somali government. Ankara has established educational institutions, healthcare facilities, and infrastructure, in addition to offering scholarships for Somali students in Turkey. In 2017, Turkey inaugurated its largest foreign military base in Mogadishu. Earlier this year, Turkey and Somalia ratified a defense and economic cooperation treaty.
Furthermore, Ankara is poised to dispatch naval support to Somali territorial waters following an agreement that Turkey will deploy an exploration vessel near the Somali coast to search for oil and gas reserves.
