MOGADISHU (Somaliguardian) – Somalia’s Foreign Minister Ahmed Moalim Fiqi leading a federal government delegation has flown to Ankara for Turkey-brokered talks with Ethiopia over a controversial sea access deal that Addis Ababa signed with the break-away region of Somaliland in January.
It comes months after the Somali government announced that there would be no room for mediation with Addis Ababa unless it retracted its memorandum of understanding with Somaliland.
The shift in stance comes days after Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud said that his government welcomes Ethiopia to gain access to the Somali coastline, triggering public anger and social media backlash.
It is not yet clear if Ethiopia has so far agreed to walk back its deal with Somaliland which triggered concerns raised by the United States that it could play into the hands of Al-Shabaab, serving as a recruitment driver for the Somali militant group which rose to prominent following the Ethiopian invasion of Somalia in 2006.
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