Addis Ababa, capital city of
Ethiopia.
The foreign ministers of Somalia and Ethiopia will meet in Ankara next week to discuss disagreements over a port deal Addis Ababa signed with the breakaway region of Somaliland earlier this year, Turkey's foreign minister Hakan Fidan said.
Turkey is now mediating
talks between the east African neighbours, whose ties became strained in
January when Ethiopia agreed to lease 20 km (12 miles) of coastline from
Somaliland, in exchange for recognition of its independence.
Declaring the
arrangement unlawful, Mogadishu replied by threatening to deport thousands of
Ethiopian soldiers stationed there to assist in the fight against Islamist
rebels and expelling the Ethiopian ambassador.
The foreign ministers
of Somalia and Ethiopia met with Fidan in Ankara last month to resolve their
differences and decided to have more discussions.
Fidan announced at a
press conference in Istanbul that Somalia and Ethiopia will hold their second
round of negotiations in Ankara the following week.
Fidan's announcement
came a week after he visited Addis Ababa and met Ethiopia's 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."
In recent years, Turkey
has grown to be a close supporter of the government in Somalia. Ankara has
constructed infrastructure, clinics, and schools, and it has given Somali
students scholarships to study in Turkey.
Turkey established its
largest military outpost abroad in Mogadishu in 2017. An agreement on defense
and commercial cooperation was inked between Turkey and Somalia earlier this
year.
After the two nations
decided that Ankara would send an exploring vessel off the coast of Somalia to
prospect for oil and gas, Ankara is also planning to send navy backup to Somali
waters.
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