The President of the Federal Republic of Somalia Mr. Hassan Sheikh Mohamud who met with the Ambassador of our brotherly government in Turkey Mr. Mehmet Yılmaz, the Norwegian Ambassador to Somalia Mr. Haakon Svane and the Special Representatives of Turkey and Norway shared their commitment. is the restoration of talks between the Federal Government of Somalia and Somaliland.
The President mentioned the facilitation and welcoming role of the Turkish government in the talks between the Federal Government of Somalia and Somaliland, which was a good start to finding solutions to existing problems and ensuring the stability and development of the Somali people.
President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud thanked the Governments of Turkey and Norway for their commitment to support the restoration of DFS and SL dialogues, and mentioned his national plan related to the Somali Agreement, which is part of is finding a solution to the concerns of Somaliland brothers and sisters.
For their part, the Special Representative of Turkey, Mr. Aykut Kumbaroğlu, Norway, Ms. Heidi Johansen and the diplomats of those countries that the President met with praised the commitment to finding solutions to the challenges that have delayed the lives of Somali people, especially conflicts, conflicts. political and social reconciliation.
Previews Talks
in 2020, Ethiopia, the U.S. and the EU have brokered surprise talks between the Somalia and Somaliland administrations, which are historically opposed, though progress has stalled while both sides prepare for elections. The parties should cooperate on technical issues, pending a shot at deeper dialogue.
Talks between Somali and the breakaway Somaliland region are being hailed as historic, as kick-starting a political dialogue between the two to resolve their longstanding differences.
Somalia’s former President Mohamed Abdullahi Formajo and the current Somaliland leader Moussa Bihi Abdi met on Sunday in Djibouti, their neighbor in the Horn of Africa, in the presence of Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, the Nobel laureate who in 2020 brought the two sides together in Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian capital.
Their host, Djibouti President Ismail Omar Guelleh, said at the opening of the meeting: “As we all know, a few days from now will mark the 60th anniversary of the end of colonial rule in the Somali territories. After the struggles of the last 30 years, the time for a rebirth is now.
“Indeed this new generation of young people are not burdened by the violence of the past and I believe they are the best suited to build anew.”
Abiy also tweeted that he was “pleased” with the summit, calling it a “critical demonstration of open dialogue & reconciliation for national & regional development.”
Turkey’s Role in The Talks
Turkey plays a significant and important role in Africa, and there is the possibility that it can bring Somalia and the Somaliland administration to the table and arbitrate a long-lasting solution for all.
Former Turkish Ambassador to Somalia, Dr. Olgan Bekar, was named Turkey’s special envoy in the Somalia-Somaliland talks early this year. He is a well-known diplomat in Somalia and the larger East Africa region. He served as the Turkish Ambassador in Mogadishu – Turkey’s largest diplomatic mission in Africa – from 2014 to late 2018. He oversaw a diplomatic mission that played a crucial role in acting as a trusted mediator in Somali politics – often arbitrating between the Federal government and the mutinous and unruly Federal member states in Somalia – and channelling the global humanitarian attention and focus to Somalia in the event of menacing droughts and national disasters like Al-Shabaab terrorist attacks.
The dialogue between the two formerly united in the now defunct republic of Somalia that collapsed in 1991 after Somaliland pulled out of the union and reclaim its sovereignty following a protracted civil war was sanctioned by the international community during the first conference held in London in February of 2012.
Following the dictates of the Feb 2012 London conference on Somalia communiqué urging the two countries to resolve the two decades long issue of Somaliland’s unilateral declaration of independence and Somalia’s insistence on unity the talks the first meeting at Technical level were held in at Chevening Manor house in London.
The talks the first in 21 years between the two sides that were hosted by the British government and witnessed by the Norwegian government and the European Union resulted in the eight points Chevenng Declaration that was subsequently ratified in Dubai.
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