borkena
Toronto – The planned third round of talk between Ethiopia and Somalia in Ankara is reportedly postponed.
VOA Amharic cited what it claims to be two senior officials within the Somalia government who spoke anonymously.
Two different reasons are cited for the cancellation of the Turkish initiated talk which was expected to take place in a few days.
According to the VOA Amharic report, one of Somalia government officials who is said to have stated that he has no permission to disclose information said that the “meeting is postponed due to conflicting schedules with the General Assembly meeting of the United Stations.”
Another official is cited as saying that there was “no adequate time to prepare for the meeting.”
It was scheduled to take place on Tuesday September 17.
Two rounds of indirect talks between Ethiopia and Somalia took place in the months of July and August. According to a report published by borkena last month, the third round of the meeting was initially scheduled to take place in early September but it seems that Somalia initiated its cancellation.
Just a day after the end of the second round of talk in August this year, Somalia signed a defense pact with Egypt allowing the latter to deploy tens of thousands of Egyptian forces in Somalia. Somalia also has a defense agreement with Eritrea too – Ethiopia’s neigbhour in the North who trained tens of thousands of troops for Somalia.
Egyptian political and military move to exploit the tension between Somalia and Ethiopia might further complicate Ankara initiated talk.
After the arrival of two military planes at the Aden Adde International Airport in Mogadishu, newly appointed Ethiopian Ambassador Somaliland, Teshome Shunde Hamito, submitted credentials to President Muse Bihi in Hargeisa. There are also unconfirmed reports that Ethiopian forces in Somalia are in control of major airports in other parts of Somalia.
This week, Somalia’s Minister for Foreign Affairs vowed that his country will be supporting armed groups in Ethiopia that are fighting against the Ethiopian government if Ethiopia is implementing the MoU agreement with Somaliland – the cause of the tension. The Ethiopian government has not remarked on it at this writing.
Multiple credible Somali news sources recently reported that there are dissenting voices within Somalia regarding Egyptian military presence in Somalia. Ahmed Shek.
At this point the international community – except the United States – does not seem to be that concerned about the developing situation in the Horn of Africa with Egyptian Military presence in Somalia and worsening tension between Ethiopia and Somalia.
Richard Riley, U.S. Ambassador to Somalia, this week disclosed that the U.S. is working with its partners to resolve the tension. He emphasized that no conflict should break out in the region.
__
Join our Telegram Channel : t.me/borkena
Like borkena on Facebook
Add your business to Ethiopian Business Listing / Ethiopian Business Directory
Join the conversation. Follow us on X (Formerly Twitter) @zborkena to get the latest Ethiopian News updates regularly. Subscribe to YouTube channel To share information or for submission, send e-mail to info@borkena.com