Representatives of the Federal Government of Somalia and of the Government of Somaliland have signed an accord to guide future discussions during their latest round of talks in Istanbul. They agreed to hold a further round of talks in three months, and to set up an Istanbul-based secretariat to frame the agenda. An agreement was signed on Saturday (January 18) committing the two sides to resolve issues and to cooperate. The two sides agreed to refrain from inflammatory statements and to make a firm commitment to the resolution of differences through exclusively peaceful means and dialogue. The communiqué outlines the proposed process of political dialogue on future relations within the framework agreements reached in earlier discussions at Chevening, Dubai, Ankara, and Istanbul. The two sides will jointly define areas of cooperation which can meet practical needs. Referring back to the dialogue in Istanbul last July, they also agreed to nominate an Air Traffic Control Board within 45 days and to appoint an ad-hoc Technical Committee composed of two members from each party to prepare the terms of reference. The Technical Committee work will be supervised by the respective Ministers.
Source: Government of Ethiopia
Country: Somalia