Türkiye mediates to ease Somalia-Ethiopia tensions in Ankara meetings

Türkiye‘s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan met with Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and Somalia’s President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud in Ankara on Wednesday.

The leaders, along with their delegations, held talks at the Presidential Complex, Türkiye’s Communications Directorate reported on X.

Türkiye has been mediating to ease tensions between Somalia and Ethiopia and this meetings were seen as part of Türkiye’s efforts to resolve a year-long dispute regarding Ethiopia’s push for port access to the Horn of Africa, sources told speaking to media outlet Middle East Eye.

Meanwhile, the Turkish foreign minister said last month that Türkiye’s Africa policy is holistic and that the policy encompasses not only economic, development, social education, and health sectors, but also includes security cooperation and efforts for peace and stability.

“We, as Türkiye, are doing everything we can to put an end to conflicts in regions where we have ties,” Hakan Fidan told reporters at the joint news conference of the Third Ministerial Review Conference of Türkiye-Africa Partnership.

Stating that the process has been initiated by Ankara to ease tensions between Ethiopia and Somalia and to resolve the dispute through an agreement, Fidan said Türkiye had three meetings with the foreign ministers of the two countries Ethiopia and Somalia.

Earlier this year, Ethiopia signed a naval agreement with the breakaway state of Somaliland, which Mogadishu viewed as a challenge to Somalia’s sovereignty.

Meanwhile Türkiye, which has built a strong security and political relationship with Somalia, signed a comprehensive naval agreement with Samalia. The deal aims to establish a Somali navy and safeguard Somali territorial waters from external threats.

It also led to an energy partnership, with Turkish energy drilling ships arriving on the Somali coastline earlier this year.

Meanwhile, during the talks, Türkiye’s Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, National Defense Minister Yasar Guler, Turkish Intelligence Organization head Ibrahim Kalin, and Communications Director Fahrettin Altun were in attendance.

No further information on the meeting was provided by the officials.