The Turkish government is hosting a meeting which is aimed at jump-starting the stalled Somaliland-Somalia talks.
The talks were derailed from the right track after Somalia included the delegation to attend the talks members hailing from Somaliland which SL authority and its delegation protested and walked out of the talks in its last round.
The dialogue between Somalia and Somaliland has been in suspension for about a year and the Turkish government which brokered the talks as well as hosting it has embarked on a diplomatic leverage to persuade both sides to come back to the negotiation table in order to reach a tangible progress over the political standoff.
Somaliland government has issued names of representatives set to attend the talks are as follows:-
- Foreign Affairs Minister, Dr. Sa’ad Ali Shire
- Presidential Affairs Minister, Mohamoud Hashi Abdi
- Foreign Affairs special adviser, Dr. Husein Abdilahi Bulhan
- Hon. Mohamoud Abdi Hamud
- Mr. Hasan Khalid, London-based Scholar.
Somalia Representative members include:-
- Interior Minister, Abdirahman Husein Odowaa
- Somalia’s ambassador to Turkey, Abdilahi Mohamed Ali aka Sanbaloshe
- Somalia presidential adviser, Mohamed Ali Dodisho
- Ex-Head of BBC Somali Services, Yusuf Garad Omar
- Mr. Husein Elmi, a scholar.
The delegations from Somalia and Somaliland have reached in Istanbul, Turkey and introducing both officials have commenced according to preliminary reports.
They have exchanged learning the historical backgrounds of Somaliland and Somalia.
The delegations have not so far discussed political issues but just within a matter of days the talks will official kick-off and thorny issues will be debated on a case by case basis.
Somaliland has not given an opportunity to the political parties while the current Justice and Welfare party chairman, Faisal Ali Warabe was included in the talks committee.
Somaliland authority as well as Somalia Federal Gov’t have not issued a statement neither confirming nor denying the resumption of the talks and the arrival of the delegates in Turkey.
Somaliland, a broke away state from Somalia in 1991 although it is not internationally recognized but it is functioning as a state within a failed state.som
