Somalia and Ethiopia have agreed to work together to resolve a dispute over Addis Ababa’s plan to build a port in the breakaway region of Somaliland.

The issue about the port has drawn in regional powers and threatened to further destabilise the Horn of Africa.

The two countries’ leaders said they had agreed to find commercial arrangements to allow landlocked Ethiopia “reliable, secure, and sustainable access to and from the sea” after talks on Wednesday mediated by Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan.

The meeting was their first since January, when Ethiopia said it would lease a port in Somalia’s breakaway northern region of Somaliland in exchange for recognising the area’s independence.

Mogadishu rejected the deal and threatened to expel Ethiopian troops stationed in Somalia to fight Islamist insurgents.

Somalia opposes international recognition of Somaliland, which has governed itself and enjoyed comparative peace and stability since declaring independence in 1991.

In a joint statement on Wednesday, Somalia and Ethiopia said they agreed to start technical negotiations by the end of February next year and to conclude them within four months.

They did not go into detail.

“This joint declaration focuses on the future, not the past,” the statement said.

Mr Erdogan said at a press conference in Ankara afterwards.

Somalia’s President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud said he was ready to work with Ethiopia, while Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed welcomed Turkish efforts to resolve the dispute. 

(Reuters/NAN)