Djibouti rules out Türkiye’s success in resolving the “Ethiopian port” crisis in the Red Sea

[Deeq A.]

Djibouti’s Foreign Minister, Mahmoud Ali Yusuf, ruled out the success of Turkish mediation in resolving the crisis between Somalia and Ethiopia, over the latter’s leasing of a naval base on the Red Sea, in the separatist region of “Somaliland”, which the Mogadishu government rejects and considers a “violation of its sovereignty.”

On Monday, Ankara hosted a meeting between the foreign ministers of Turkey, Hakan Fidan, Somalia, Ahmed Maalim Faki, and Ethiopia, Taye Atsek Selassie, in a second round of negotiations mediated by Turkey to end the differences between the two neighboring countries in the Horn of Africa.

Minister Ali Youssef said in exclusive statements to Asharq Al-Awsat, “Frankly, the positions of the two countries on the concept of respecting sovereignty and territorial integrity are very far from each other,” adding that “the solution lies in one of the two countries abandoning its position on these issues.”

Last January, the breakaway region of Somaliland signed a memorandum of understanding with Ethiopia, granting the latter the right to use a 20-kilometre-long seafront of Somaliland territory for 50 years, through a “lease” agreement. Mogadishu rejected this, and called for an emergency Arab meeting at the time, which condemned the memorandum and expressed solidarity with the Somali position, which considered it “null and unacceptable.”

The Somaliland region is a former British protectorate that declared its independence in 1991, but was not recognized by the international community.

The Djiboutian minister revealed that his country “proposed a secret mediation with compromise solutions to resolve the dispute,” but he declined to disclose its details, saying: “I cannot reveal it so as not to expose it to failure.”

Youssef explained that Djibouti has never stopped seeking to ease tensions between the two neighboring countries, Somalia and Ethiopia, noting that “in order to ease diplomatic escalation, Djibouti held an IGAD summit last February, and the Djiboutian president is in constant communication between the leaderships of the two neighboring countries.”

He added: “The Turkish mediation came at the request of Ethiopia, after Kenyan mediation did not achieve the desired results… What is important is that all diplomatic efforts work to achieve stability and security for the region, and these are the goals that concern Djibouti in the first place before any other consideration.”

Somali Foreign Minister Ahmed Faqi announced on Tuesday the completion of the second round of negotiations with Ethiopia in Turkey, without disclosing any agreement.

After praising Turkey’s mediation efforts in a statement via the X platform, he explained that it was agreed to hold the third round of talks there.

According to Somali media sources, the Ankara talks have reached a dead end, as Ethiopia insists on implementing the memorandum of understanding with Somaliland, while Somalia insists that Ethiopia abandon the memorandum first, and then negotiate with the Somali federal government in Mogadishu regarding access to the Red Sea.

Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, during a recent phone call with his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, confirmed his welcome of Turkey’s efforts to promote dialogue between Somalia and Ethiopia, but stressed the need for “any cooperation to be consistent with respect for Somalia’s sovereignty and national unity, in accordance with international law and order.”

In contrast, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed used a phone call he had with the Turkish president last Saturday to stress the importance of providing Ethiopia, a country of 120 million people, with “access to the sea through a mutually agreed approach,” according to the official Ethiopian News Agency, which also quoted Abiy as appreciating Erdogan’s support in facilitating the resolution of what it described as “the misunderstanding between Ethiopia and Somalia

aawsat

Qaran News