Somalia-Ethiopia Talks to Open in Türkiye Today

GOOBJOOG NEWS/ANKARA: Talks between Somalia and Ethiopia over the controversial January MoU that has sparked a fierce diplomatic fall-out open today in Türkiye’s capital Ankara.

The two sides are meeting under the auspices of the Turkish government led by Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan. The talks were earlier set for September 2 following the initial meeting in early July.

The talks follows the Fidan’s shuttle diplomacy that has seen him meet Ethiopian and Somali officials in the past week. Also, President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and his Turkish counterpart Recep Erdogan held a phone call on Sunday head of the talks. According to a statement from Villa Somalia, ‘the two leaders reaffirmed their commitment to enhancing the partnership between their nations, particularly in areas of mutual interest such as defense cooperation and economic development.’

The Turkish minister will be exploring a dialogue between the two sides which could results in a compromise deal to avert further diplomatic rifts between Mogadishu and Addis Ababa.

Somalia had earlier dismissed any prospects for dialogue and demanded that Ethiopia rescinds the MoU.