The 3rd round of talks between Somalia and Ethiopia has been postponed indefinitely. The two sides were due to meet on September 17.
The two Horn of Africa neighbors have held two rounds of discussion recently under the auspices of Turkey. They are in dispute over Ethiopian attempt to gain access to sea through Somaliland in return for recognizing Somaliland as an independent country. Somaliland is internationally recognized part of Somalia.
Somalia Ethiopia MoU issue arose in January this year. Somalia recalled its ambassador to Addis Ababa and expelled the Ethiopian ambassador. The diplomatic relations have been suspended. Somalia has signed two defense deals with Turkey and Egypt to stop the implementation of Ethiopia Somaliland MoU.
No official statement has been issued about the postponement of the 3rd round of talks. Some sources claim that Somalia wants Ethiopia to withdraw from the MoU with Somaliland before joining this round of talks. But according to some other sources, the talks have been postponed due to upcoming UN General Assembly session.
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