By Anadolu staff
BERLIN (AA) - Germany welcomed an agreement on Thursday between Ethiopia and Somalia to end their territorial and maritime dispute through Türkiye's mediation.
“The Ankara Declaration between Ethiopia and Somalia facilitated by Türkiye is an important step forward towards more stability for the people in the Horn of Africa,” the German Foreign Ministry said in a statement posted on X. “We encourage further negotiations in a spirit of trusted partnership.”
The dispute began when Ethiopia struck a deal with Somalia's breakaway region of Somaliland in January to use its Red Sea port of Berbera. Türkiye has since worked to ease tensions between the two East African nations.
The agreement was reached during talks in Ankara on Wednesday, hosted by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, with Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.
“We have taken the first step toward a new beginning based on peace and cooperation between Somalia and Ethiopia,” Erdogan said at a joint news conference in the Turkish capital.
According to Türkiye's Communications Directorate, the leaders of Somalia and Ethiopia “reaffirmed their respect and commitment to one another's sovereignty, unity, independence and territorial integrity, as well as the principles enshrined in international law, the Charter of the United Nations and the Constitutive Act of the African Union.”