Anadolu staff
12 December 2024•Update: 12 December 2024
JOHANNESBURG
The Ethiopian president hailed an agreement signed on Thursday between his country and neighboring Somalia, which was mediated by Türkiye and aimed to resolve disputes between the two African neighbors.
“The Ankara Declaration signed between Ethiopia and Somalia in Türkiye is the right step in forging stronger regional cooperation between the peoples of Ethiopia and Somalia; the greater Horn of Africa and beyond,” Taye Atske Selassie wrote on his official X account.
“We have taken the first step toward a new beginning based on peace and cooperation between Somalia and Ethiopia,” Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced at a joint press conference Wednesday in Ankara after hosting his Somali counterpart Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.
After they met with Erdogan in Ankara, in a joint statement called the Ankara Declaration, the leaders of Somalia and Ethiopia “reaffirmed their respect and commitment to one another’s sovereignty, unity, independence, and territorial integrity," according to Türkiye's Communications Directorate.
"They agreed, within a spirit of friendship and mutual respect, to forgo and leave behind differences and contentious issues and forge ahead in a cooperative manner to pursue shared prosperity."
In 1991, Eritrea gained independence from Ethiopia, resulting in the formation of two separate nations, but Ethiopia lost direct access to the Red Sea and key ports.
Somalia and Ethiopia have been at odds since Ethiopia struck a deal this January with Somalia's breakaway region of Somaliland to use its Red Sea port of Berbera. Türkiye has been working to resolve these tensions.
