MOGADISHU (Somaliguardian) – Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan held separate phone conversations on Sunday with Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed ahead of talks between representatives from the two countries, which are scheduled to kick off in Ankara on Monday.
Erdogan urged both leaders to show commitment to achieving tangible outcome from the talks, adding that Ankara is fully invested in seeing this dialogue produce concrete results.
It comes after months long dispute over a memorandum of understanding that Addis Ababa signed in January with the break-away region of Somaliland to gain access to a leased land along the Red Sea where it plans to build a naval base, triggering the ire of Mogadishu, which has since accused Addis Ababa of violating its sovereignty and territorial integrity.
The first round of the talks held in Turkey failed to make headway after Addis Ababa had insisted its willingness not to scrap the controversial MoU.
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, who had visited Ethiopia and Egypt last week, said upon returning to Ankara that his government wanted Addis Ababa to gain access to the Somali coastline while recognizing the sovereignty and territorial integrity of its neighbor.
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