Somalian President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud said on Saturday that the country refused to negotiate with Ethiopia until it recognized Somalia as an independent and sovereign state.
The statement came amid negotiations between Somalia and Ethiopia, the second round of which took place on Monday and Tuesday in Ankara at the initiative of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan reported that the third round of negotiations to reconcile Ethiopia and Somalia would be held in Ankara on September 17.
“We will not negotiate with Ethiopia on any issue until it recognizes our full sovereignty,” Sheikh Mohamud said during a press conference on Saturday, as quoted by the SONNA news agency.
According to the agency, the Somalian president stressed that Ethiopia’s non-recognition of Somalia’s sovereignty led to the “recent breakdown of negotiations” in Ankara.
Earlier, Ethiopia and the unrecognized republic of Somaliland, located in the north-western part of Somalia, signed a memorandum of understanding, under which Addis Ababa would gain access to the Red Sea.
After that, the Somali authorities recalled the ambassador to Addis Ababa, and Sheikh Mohamud signed a law annulling the agreement between Somaliland and Ethiopia.
As reported by CGTN Africa, the emergency summit of northeast African countries convened in Uganda by the Intergovernmental Authority on Development called on Ethiopia and Somalia to reduce tensions and return to constructive dialogue.
Somalia ceased to exist as a single state in 1991 with the fall of the dictatorial regime of Mohamed Siad Barre.
The federal government, which controls the capital city of Mogadishu and several other areas, is recognized by the international community as the only legitimate authority in the country.
The remaining parts of Somalia are under the control of unrecognized state entities or are self-governing territories.
In particular, in the northern part of the country is the unrecognized Republic of Somaliland, which the international community considers part of the Federal Republic of Somalia, and in the eastern part is the Puntland region, which declared autonomy in 1998.
