By Enyichukwu Enemanna
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has announced plans to embark on a trip to Africa in the first two months of next year, during which he will visit Ethiopia and Somalia.
This comes after the Turkish leader brokered a peace deal to de-escalate tensions between the two Horn of Africa neighbors.
“I will visit Ethiopia and Somalia in the first two months of the New Year,” he wrote on X, formerly Twitter, on Sunday.
On December 11, Erdogan mediated peace talks between Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud in Ankara. The duo had been at odds over access granted to Ethiopia by breakaway Somaliland to build a port, a deal Mogadishu claimed was a violation of its sovereignty.
Both African nations agreed to end their nearly year-long bitter dispute after hours of talks initiated by Erdogan, who described the breakthrough as “historic.”
Turkey had previously hosted three rounds of talks with the two countries before last week’s breakthrough.
The African Union, Washington, and Brussels have all hailed the development.
The crisis began in January when Ethiopia announced plans to lease a port in Somaliland, a region considered part of Somalia.
The deal allowing Ethiopia to construct the port was in exchange for recognition of Somaliland as an independent nation, a move strongly opposed by Somalia.
In a joint statement following the peace deal, Erdogan, Somalia, and Ethiopia said they had agreed to begin technical negotiations by the end of February next year and to conclude them within four months.
“This joint declaration focuses on the future, not the past,” Erdogan said at a press conference in Ankara.
Somalia’s President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud expressed readiness to work with Ethiopia, while Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed welcomed Turkey’s efforts to resolve the dispute.
