The Turkish government has announced a new approach to the talks between Somalia and Ethiopia after the failure of the 3rd round of talks.
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said on Thursday they are planning to meet separately with Somalia and Ethiopia, and find a solution before bringing the parties together face to face.
Speaking to the state-owned Anadolu news agency, Fidan said Turkey was continuing to engage with Somalia and Ethiopia at the ministerial and head of state level, and added he was hopeful of finding a solution since the parties had “converged to a certain point” as part of the Ankara talks.
Rather than bringing the same sides here for direct talks – and they don’t meet directly anyway, they meet us – we have the aim of establishing one-on-one contact to converge positions and later bring the sides together when their positions reach a totally common point,” Fidan said, adding there were “lessons” learned from the first two rounds of talks.
Relations between the two countries worsened in January, when Ethiopia signed an agreement with Somaliland to lease 20 km of maritime territory, instead of recognizing it.
Mogadishu called the agreement illegal and retaliated by expelling the Ethiopian ambassador and threatening to kick out thousands of Ethiopian troops stationed in the country helping battle against Al Shabab.
About The Author
