Mogadishu (PP News Desk) — Hassan Keynan, a Somali academic said that the lack of a sense of history puts Somalia at a disadvantage, as shown by the Ankara Agreement that the President of Somalia, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, signed with Abiy Ahmed, the Prime Minister of Ethiopia.
“Türkiye has imperial roots in the Ottoman Empire. It is a feature it shares with Ethiopia, which has always claimed to have imperial roots. In addition, Türkiye has not signed the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). Türkiye argued that the agreement would give advantage to Greece, which has many islands,” Keynan told Brit Somali TV.
Türkiye and Somalia kept the planned talks secret. The disclosure that Türkiye rejects a law about global maritime security but offered to mediate between Somalia and landlocked Ethiopia outside the UNCLOS framework raises concerns about the implementablity of the Ankara Agreement.
Turkey reportedly rejected any reference to UNCLOS initially demanded by theFederal Government of Somalia. “The Ottoman Empire attended the cursed 1884 Berlin Conference, known as the Scramble for Africa. Somalia falls for sentimental views based on President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s [2011] visit to Somalia and shared creed” said Keynan.
The accusation that President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud had to set aside the UNCLOS framework in favour of Turkish demands will unnerve Villa Somalia.
© Puntland Post, 2025
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