Somaliland Declares Cessation of Talks with Somalia, Sets Conditions for Resumption

Somalilandsun- Continued Talks with somalia are unnecessary thence needless to resume them.
This was stated by Ambassador Bashe Awil in apparent support to similar sentiments by Somaliland President Muse Bihi Abdi who had on the same day informed that resumption of the talks with Somalia a looked bleak.
The sentiments by Amb Bashe were elicited on Friday 23rd November during a BBC somalia service debate in which his co-panelists were somalia Member of Parliament Abdifatah Ismail Dahir and executive director of the Somalia research Institute Abdirashid Khalil Hasan
In a public address in Burao the administrative capital of Toghdeer which is part of his ongoing eastern r goons tour President Muse Bihi said
“We shall not resume talks with Somalia until the federal government authorities in Mogadishu acknowledge the sovereignty of Somaliland”

This statement by President Bihi elicited a lot of discussions both within Somaliland and Somalia as well as various other international capitals.
The now stalled talks between this two countries were initiated following the 2012 London conference on Somalia in which it was agreed that the issue revolving the Somaliland withdrawal from union with Somalia was solely a local matter to be resolved through talks.
Since then the international sanctioned talks have materialized seven times beginning from the first one at London’s Chevening House, followed by high profile Presidents Silanyo and Hasan sheik in Dubai.
After the Dubai Meet, the government of Turkey took over mediation thus negotiators meeting for the subsequent five phases of talks in either Istanbul or Ankara.

In justification of support of President Bihi’s revelation of the conditional resumption of the stalled talks with Somalia, Amb Bashe Awil said, “somaliland is an independent country thence in equal footing with its neighbour Somalia” thus negating Insinuations that only the federal government authorities in Mogadishu can pronounce Somaliland a sovereign nation thence international recognition.
On the ill fated talks, the envoy said that during the entire several phases of negotiations be it in the UK, UAE or UAE , the Somalia Federal Government has refused to implement agreements.
Though negotiations were Initially to have been geared towards either reunion between Somaliland and Somalia or complete withdrawal, the agenda seemed to have gone wayward.
This out of agenda negotiations came as a result of divergence on the sovereignty status of Somaliland is ‘a’ Vis claimed jurisdiction by the SFG.
According to the SFG talks were centered on establishing mechanism for Somaliland to reunite with Somalia thence the return of the ill fated Somalia republic which collapsed in 1991 when the former British Protectorate withdrew from its voluntary later turned fateful union with the neighbouring former Italian colony.
For somaliland the internationally sanction talks with Somalia had nothing to do with sovereignty whose discussions is Taboo for it is neither negotiable nor reversible.
Apart from the two worlds agenda m Somaliland feels justified in resumption of the talks because of failure by Somalia to implement any of the many agreements reached during the six phases of face to face negotiations.
Among the agreements Somalia has failed to implement has been, joint airspace management, non interference in each other’s internal affairs, among many others one of which has never been implemented courtesy of the SFG in Mogadishu.A good example is The Istanbul II Communiqué below verbatim.
For Somaliland this is the first time for n Overt declaration of conditional talks resumption with Somalia having in the past informed of wishes to have international observers as well as a change of venue from Turkey.

ISTANBUL COMMUNIQUÉ II

18 January 2014

Document for the process of political dialogue between the Government of Somaliland and the Federal Government of the Somalia on future relations

In accordance with framework agreement reached in Chevening, Dubai, Ankara, and Istanbul I, delegations from the Federal Government of Somalia and the Government of Somaliland met in Istanbul between 16-19 January, 2014 with the assistance of Turkish Government.

I. DIALOGUE PROCESS DESIGN

Overall Framework

i. This is a dialogue process between the Government of Somaliland and the Federal Government of Somalia to reach agreement on future relations

ii. The parties are committed to continuing their dialogue in a spirit of mutual respect.

iii. The dialogue will focus on resolving future relations between the two entities.

iv. The parties commit to resolving all problems and disputes in an exclusively peaceful manner.

v. The parties agree to abide by commitments made in the Code of Conduct and Declaration of Principles.

vi. The parties agree to work diligently and in good faith and to ensure full implementation of the agreements reached.

vii. The parties recognise the crucial role that the government of Turkey is playing in promoting the dialogue.

II. Agenda and Substance

i. The focus of the agenda will be the nature of future relations of the two parties.

ii. The parties will agree to dialogue on other issues of mutual importance and necessity as the need arises.

iii. The parties agree to set agendas in advance of each dialogue session.

iv. The parties will review implementation status of issues that have previously been discussed or agreed upon..

v. The parties agree to update each other on implementation progress with regards to past agreements at the start of each dialogue session.

III. Decision Making

I. The parties will reach decisions by consensus between the negotiation teams.

II. The negotiation teams of the parties will be guided by the inputs and decisions of their principals.

III. Whereas further input and technical assistance is required,the parties jointly communicate their decisions to theirhosting partner.

IV. As necessary meeting of the principals may be called by the two negotiation teams or their agreed partner to resolve deadlock.

V. A joint secretariat will be established in Turkey and it’s functions shall be following:

a. Ensure proper dialogue coordination;

b. Provide logistical, administrative and record keeping to support the process;

c. Support implementation of decisions reached by the negotiating parties.

IV. Sequencing considerations:

i. The parties agree on the framework for the process of dialogue, declaration of principles and code of conduct and commonly agreed international facilitation, establishment of a secretariatin Turkey and select areas of cooperation based on need.

ii. The frameworkfor the process will establish a regular schedule of meetings of 90 days for the negotiation teams.

iii. The heads of the two negotiation teams shall either communicate with each other or hold meeting in six weeksperiod for follow up purposes and in orderto determine the agenda.

iv. In between talks, the parties will agree on initial terms of reference, roles and composition of international facilitation to the process.

v. In advance to any round of dialogue, the parties will develop a preliminary draft declaration on expected outcomes.

V. Participation

A. The partners in the dialogue are the Government of Somaliland and the Federal Government of the Somalia, represented by their delegated negotiation teams.

B. Appreciating the central role that Turkey has played in facilitating previous rounds of dialogue, and recognizing the support received from other international partners, the Parties will decide the scope of the desired continued support they might be in need to advance the process..

C. The parties may seek jointly technical support from neutral and impartial expert organizations for legal advisory purpose.

VI. Implementation

a. The parties agree that the negotiating entities are the immediate implementing authorities of whatever agreements maybe reached.

b. Participation in this implementation process will be confined to the parties in dialogue.

c. The parties will adopt decisions to insure timely and effective implementations of anyagreed outcomes

d. In order to ensure full implementation of agreements, the parties will develop implementation plans, including milestones and agreed oversight, for agreements reached. Progress on these plans will be monitored by the Turkey government

Code of Conduct:

The Parties agree to:

1. Open meetings by the reciting the holy Quran

2. Refrain from inflammatory statements and behavior that will impinge on the objectives and progress of the dialogueand avoid making public statements compromising or undermining the spirit of the negotiation..

3. Agree in advance on joint public statements relating to the dialogue.

4. Develop in advance the agenda for each session and adopt the agenda at the commencement of discussions.

5. Conduct the discussions in an atmosphere of mutual respect and understanding.

6. Respect and uphold the confidentiality of the process and correspondence between the two parties and discussions must be treated as strictly confidential by all involved parties and hosting partner.

7. Commit to peaceful relations and mutual respect and avoidance of all kinds of hostilities.

Declaration of Principles:

Both parties agree to the following principles:

1. The Parties will pursue dialogue towards agreed outcomes and approved the contents of previous agreements which are in the best interests of both parties.

2. The parties enter into the dialogue firmly committed to resolving issues and finding mutually acceptable outcomes.

3. The parties agree to act in accordance with the Code of Conduct and other agreements.

4. The parties will fully facilitate and jointly define areas of cooperation which can meet practical needs ofboth parties.

5. The parties make a firm commitment to the resolution of differences through exclusively peaceful means and dialogue.

6. The parties agree with Turkish Government to provide regular briefing to the international communities.

7. Referring to the Communiqué of the two parties Dialogue in Istanbul, Turkey on 7-9/July 2013. The parties agreed to nominate Air Traffic Control Board to establish within 45 days.

8. The parties agreed to appoint an ad-hoc technical committee composed of 4 members, ( two from each party) to prepare the terms of reference of the Air Traffic Control Board. The Technical Committee work will be supervised by the respective two Ministers.

9. We share the pain inflicted upon the Somali people by the military regime in Somalia before the year 1991. We condemn all the atrocities committed by that regime throughout all Somali people particularly the people in Somaliland.

H.E. Abdikarin Hussein Guled                                            H.E. Mohamed Behi Yonis

Minister                                                                                          Minister

The Federal Government of Somalia                               The Government of Somaliland

Related Accords between Somaliland and Somalia

Somaliland / Somalia talks: Chevening House Declaration

Somaliland: Dubai Statement 28/06/2012

Turkey Hosts Tripartite Talks with Somaliland and Somalia Presidents

Somaliland: Mogadishu Relinquishes Airspace Control and Acknowledges Atrocities

Somaliland: Position Paper on Somalia Talks Presented During Preparatory Meeting in Istanbul