Turkey says Somalia, Ethiopia to resume talks on port deal

Tensions boiled over when Ethiopia agreed to lease 20km (12 miles) of coastline from Somaliland in exchange for recognition of its independence.

The Somali and Ethiopian foreign ministers will meet in Ankara next week to discuss disagreements over a port deal Ethiopia signed with the breakaway region of Somaliland this year, Turkey’s foreign minister says.

“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,” Hakan Fidan said at a news conference in Istanbul on Friday.

Turkey is mediating talks between the East African neighbours, whose ties were strained in January when Ethiopia agreed to lease 20km (12 miles) of coastline from Somaliland in exchange for recognition of its independence. Somalia says Somaliland is part of its territory.

The agreement grants Ethiopia a 50-year lease on a naval base with access to Somaliland’s Berbera port. It was signed on January 1 in Addis Ababa by Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and Somaliland leader Muse Bihi Abdi

In April, Somalia announced the expulsion of Ethiopia’s ambassador from the country. It also shut down Ethiopia’s consulates in Hargeisa, the largest city and capital of Somaliland, and Garowe, the capital city of the semiautonomous region of Puntland.

Ethiopia is one of Africa’s most populous countries with 120 million people, but its economy has been restricted by a lack of access to the sea. It was cut off from the Gulf of Aden after a three-decades-long war that saw Eritrea secede in 1993, taking all of the country’s former coastline with it.

In return for the deal, Ethiopia said it would provide an “in-depth assessment” of Somaliland’s quest for official recognition as an independent nation, marking the first time any other country has offered to do this.

Fidan’s announcement came a week after he visited Addis Ababa and met Abiy.

Somaliland is a self-governing breakaway state. Somalia regards any international recognition of it as an attack on its sovereignty.

The Somali government has called the port deal “outrageous” and “unauthorised”.

Turkey has become a close ally of Somalia, building schools, hospitals and infrastructure and providing scholarships for Somalis to study in Turkey.

In 2017, Turkey opened its biggest overseas military base in Mogadishu. This year, Turkey and Somalia signed a defence and economic cooperation agreement.