Ethiopia and Somalia have agreed to engage in negotiations to end a dispute over a deal signed nearly a year ago between Ethiopia and the breakaway Somali region of Somaliland. Turkey announced the talks after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan met separately with Somali President Hassan Sheik Mohamud and Ethiopian PM Abiy Ahmed in Ankara yesterday. (AP)
Our Take
The news of the upcoming talks, scheduled to be held by February at the latest and completed within four months, is undoubtedly a positive development for the Horn of Africa region. The agreement between Ethiopia and Somaliland has been a significant source of regional tensions since it was signed on Jan. 1.
In that accord, Ethiopia agreed in principle to diplomatically recognize Somaliland, which has been autonomous from Somalia since declaring independence in 1991 but remains unrecognized internationally. In return, Somaliland agreed to lease a port to landlocked Ethiopia and provide further access to some of its coastline.
