Our MoU with Ethiopia remains intact, says Somaliland Despite Ankara Declaration

HARGEISA, Somalia - An official from the breakaway region of Somaliland maintains their Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Ethiopia remains intact despite the recent agreement between Mogadishu and Addis Ababa following mediation brokered by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Ethiopia had approached Somaliland for 20 kilometers of access to the Red Sea in exchange for recognition of the region as a sovereign state but Somalia dismissed the move as "null and void" leading to the current standoff.

"The relationship between Somalia and Ethiopia, that is their business. We are minding our own business," Somaliland official, Abdulahi Mohammud, told DW. "Any country that tries to interfere in our internal affairs with regards to [the] case of Somalia vis a vis Ethiopia, that are two different issues that concern the two countries, not us."

Tensions had built up in the region forcing Somalia to expel several diplomats from the country besides seeking to block Ethiopia from participating in the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS) after years of close collaboration.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the Ankara Declaration would ensure Ethiopia's long-desired access to the sea. The two sides agreed to work together on commercial arrangements and bilateral agreements that would ensure Ethiopia access to the sea under Somalia's sovereign authority.

Technical talks are due to start in February 2025 and be completed within four months with the deal set to be commercialized but strictly with respect to Somalia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.

"The meaning of technical arrangement is to discuss how the agreement will be implemented," Abdurahman Seid, a London-based Horn of Africa political analyst, told DW. But the talks next year should settle the major differences between the two countries, Seid said.

"What we know is [Ethiopia's] Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has accepted the sovereignty of Somalia. The core thing is that the president of Somalia had set this as a precondition. [He] said that... the agreement with Somaliland does not respect the sovereignty of Somalia. And this [new deal] was accepted by the Ethiopian side."

Seid told DW that in diplomatic language, the mention of no "return to the past” in the Ankara Declaration implies that the Somaliland-Ethiopia MoU no longer holds.

"[The Ethiopia-Somaliland agreement] has become voided," Seid said.

Somaliland ushered in new leadership after Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi alias Irro was sworn in as the president having defeated Muse Bihi Abdi. During the transition, the two leaders seemed to speak from the same script despite their initial differences.

In his recent inaugural address, Abdirahman Irro pledged to intensify efforts to gain international recognition for Somaliland and implement the agreement with Ethiopia.

"The previous administration has signed an MoU with Ethiopia, and we were pursuing, making sure [the MoU] is finalized legally through parliamentary channels and the legal channels of from both sides. It was at that stage that there was a new administration," Abdullahi said.

"We have an agreement, a bilateral agreement based on an MoU, it is standing, It's between Somaliland and Ethiopia. What Ethiopia does with Somalia, is completely different just a different story. As far as we are concerned, we have a binding MoU and we are pursuing it."

GAROWE ONLINE