At an invitation of their Turkish counterpart, Hakan Fidan, Foreign Ministers Taye Atske Selassie (Ethiopia) and Ahmed Moallim Fiqi (Somalia) met in Ankara, the capital of Türkiye, where they held a frank, cordial, and forward-looking conversation on their differences, and explored ways to address them within a mutually acceptable framework.

The statement noted that the representatives of Addis Ababa and Mogadishu reiterated their commitment to settle their differences peacefully. They expressed their appreciation to Fidan and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan for facilitating the initiative and for their constructive contributions.

They also agreed to meet in Ankara on September 2 for a second round of talks.

Tensions between Ethiopia and Somalia have come to the fore since January 1, after Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and the president of the semi-autonomous region of Somaliland, Muse Bihi Abdi, signed a memorandum of understanding to grant Addis Ababa 20 kilometers of 50-year access to the Gulf of Aden and the Arabian Sea.

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