Ethiopia, Somalia reach compromise deal to end feud, Turkey’s Erdogan says

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the leaders of Somalia and Ethiopia had reached a deal to end a nearly year-old bitter dispute following hours of talks in Ankara on Wednesday.

Hailing it as a “historic agreement,” Erdogan said he hoped the deal would be “the first step towards a new beginning based on peace and cooperation between Somalia and Ethiopia.”

Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and the Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud flew into Ankara earlier on Wednesday for the latest round of Turkish-brokered talks following two earlier rounds that made little progress.

The two neighbors have been at loggerheads since landlocked Ethiopia struck a deal in January with Somalia’s breakaway region Somaliland to lease a stretch of coastline for a port and military base in exchange for recognition, although this was never confirmed by Addis Ababa.

The move sparked a fierce diplomatic and military row between Ethiopia and Somalia, which branded the deal a violation of its sovereignty, setting international alarm bells ringing over the risk of renewed conflict in the volatile Horn of Africa region.

Speaking at a joint press conference, Erdogan said he believed that Wednesday’s agreement, which came after talks that reportedly lasted eight hours, would eventually bring about a way to ensure landlocked Ethiopia’s access to the sea.

“I believe with the meeting we had today, especially with Ethiopia’s demands to access the sea, my brother Sheikh Mohamud will give the necessary support for accessing the sea,” he said.

Speaking alongside him, his remarks translated into Turkish, Ethiopia’s Abiy said: “We have addressed the misunderstandings that have occurred over the past year.. Ethiopia wants safe and reliable access to the sea. This will also benefit all our neighbors.”

He said he believed the talks would allow the two nations to enter “the New Year in a spirit of cooperation, friendship and the desire to work together.”

The Somali leader, whose remarks were also translated, said the agreement had “put a halt to their differences” and said his nation was “ready to work with the Ethiopian leadership and the Ethiopian people.”

Turkey has been mediating between the two sides since July, leading discussions aimed at resolving their differences, but two earlier rounds of talks in Ankara failed to produce any tangible progress.