site.btaEthiopia and Somalia Continue Turkiye-Brokered Talks in Ankara

In Ankara Tuesday, delegations of Ethiopia and Somalia continue indirect talks brokered by Turkiye, in a bid to resolve the dispute between the two countries, the Turkish news media reports. The two sides, who were at the Turkish Foreign Ministry on Monday, are not meeting face-to-face, Foreign Ministry sources said, stressing that Turkish officials are conducting "shuttle diplomacy" coordinated by Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan.

Separate meetings are being held with each side to seek reconciliation, the sources added.

On Monday, Hakan Fidan met separately with his Ethiopian counterpart and his Somali counterpart.

It was initially announced that there could be a trilateral meeting.

The aim of the talks is to allow Ethiopia access to international waters through Somalia, but without violating Somalia's territorial sovereignty. A trilateral meeting between the foreign ministers first took place on July 1 in the Turkish capital under the auspices of Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan. On August 3, Fidan travelled to Ethiopia where he met his Ethiopian counterpart and the country's Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.

In January, Ethiopia signed a memorandum of understanding with Somaliland over access to the sea, pledging to recognize the independence of that territory, which unilaterally separated from Somalia. This agreement sparked a new crisis between the two East African neighbours, which have twice had serious clashes in the past century.