Khatumo State of Somalia PRESS RELASE: The Next Round of Talks in Ankara.

Khatumo State of Somalia

PRESS RELASE:Date:3 July 2014. The federal government of Somalia is due to hold talks at Ankara with representatives from the one- clan based secessionist enclave calling itself Somaliland. This is a follow-up to the  first round of talks held in Ankara on 14 April which will be remembered as a blatant betrayal of Somalia on two grounds: first, its unity was compromised when the secessionist enclave was accepted as a de facto separate country equal to Somalia in status; and secondly the unionist regions  in the north were sold out when they were lumped  against their will with the secessionists as part of Somaliland.

Following the outcome of the Ankara talks, and faced with the inevitable country and worldwide backlash and outcry, the president has been flip-flopping, responding to the situation he faces of the moment. Thus, at times, he would reaffirm Somalia’s unity as non-negotiable and at other times he would sound ready to reach out to the secessionists at any price. If the past is any guide, it is anybody’s guess which stand the president will take at the forthcoming talks in Ankara.

The stakes are very high for all unionists in Somalia, but more so for the peoples of the Khatumo State,  Awadal and Makhir States. For them, as for all Somalis, the litmus test of the president’s commitment to Somalia is the following:

• That the government will defend Somalia’s unity as non-negotiable;

• That the Somali government represents all the people of Somalia as recognized by the international community and in this regard has the right to choose the members of its delegation to the conference, including some from the northern unionist regions;

• That the people of Khatumo, as those from Awdal and Makhir States, are represented by their administrations and those they delegate to the talks, and not traitors who serve the one-clan secessionist enclave calling itself Somaliland;

• That the federal government opposes any one clan in Somalia occupying another’s territory and in this regard should call on Somaliland to withdraw unconditionally its militia occupying Lascanod and other parts of Khatumo State of Somalia.

The ball is in the president’s court.  He will have to choose between being a defender of Somalia and its unity or go down in history as the one who ended that unity.

President Mohamed YUSUF.