Today, discussions aimed at bringing Ethiopia and Somalia closer together, which met for the second round in Ankara, Turkey, ended in a stalemate.
Turkey’s Foreign Minister, Hakan Fidan, who was mediating between the foreign ministers of the two neighboring countries, failed to get them to engage in face-to-face talks.
Ethiopia wants access to a new port in Somaliland, which is near the Gulf of Aden. Somalia, on the other hand, wants Ethiopia to use the Berbera port, which is managed by the UAE’s DP World. However, Ethiopia is unwilling to be subordinate to DP World.
Reports indicate that Somalia also wants Ethiopia to build a new port in central Somalia. Additionally, Somalia insists that the Somali government should have control over Somali ports and that Ethiopia should withdraw from the memorandum of understanding it signed with the Somaliland administration, which claims to have seceded from Somalia in 1991.
Turkey, a close ally of Somalia, has been mediating between Addis Ababa and Mogadishu for some time to improve relations between the two neighboring countries, which have been strained by an agreement between the Ethiopian government and the Somaliland administration.
Turkey is adamant about its economic and military interests in the Horn of Africa, a region crucial for global trade.
The Somali government has agreed to allow Ethiopia to use the port of Berbera in northern Somalia. According to reports, during a meeting on August 3rd in Addis Ababa with Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, Turkish Foreign Minister Fidan secured Somalia’s agreement for Ethiopia to use the Berbera port.
Reports from Hargeisa indicate that Somaliland’s administration, led by Muse Bihi, faces significant challenges, including upcoming elections in Somaliland and dealing with the Mogadishu administration on the Ethiopian issue.
