Rhino: Agencies – Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said the Somali and Ethiopian foreign ministers will meet in Ankara next week to discuss a dispute over a port agreement Addis Ababa signed with the separatist region of Somaliland earlier this year.

Turkey is mediating the talks between the two sides, whose relations soured in January when Ethiopia agreed to lease 20 km of Somaliland’s coastline in exchange for recognition of Somaliland’s independence.

Somalia labelled the deal illegal, expelled the Ethiopian ambassador and threatened to expel thousands of Ethiopian soldiers stationed in the country to help fight Islamist insurgents.

The Somali and Ethiopian foreign ministers met in Ankara last month in Fidan’s presence to discuss the dispute and agreed to hold another round of talks.

A second round of talks between Somalia and Ethiopia will be held in Ankara next week, Fidan said during a press conference in Istanbul.

“The tension between Somalia and Ethiopia will end with Ethiopia’s access to the sea through Somalia as long as it recognizes Somalia’s territorial integrity and political sovereignty,” he added.