Turkish foreign minister to visit Ethiopia on Saturday

By Busranur Koca

ANKARA (AA) – Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan will visit Ethiopia on Saturday to meet with Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and his counterpart Taye Atske Selassie.

Fidan is expected to discuss bilateral relations, the Ethiopia-Somalia reconciliation process, as well as regional issues during his visit, according to diplomatic sources.

- Tensions between Ethiopia and Somalia

Ethiopia, the world's most populous landlocked country, lost its access to the sea when Eritrea gained de facto and de jure independence in 1991 and 1993, respectively.

The diplomatic sources said the issue of access to the Red Sea for economic reasons is high on Ethiopia's agenda.

Recalling the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between Ethiopia and Somaliland on Jan. 1 this year and the announcement by the Somaliland leader that Ethiopia would be the first country to recognize Somaliland, the sources said that the talk of recognizing Somaliland drew serious reactions from the international community.

- Ethiopia asks for Türkiye's support in its dispute with Somalia

The sources recalled that Ethiopian premier’s Special Envoy Mulatu Teshome Wirtu and Foreign Minister Selassie met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on May 8, during which they requested Türkiye's support in the dispute with Somalia.

Fidan also met with his Ethiopian and Somali counterparts, when he hosted them in Ankara on July 1.

At the end of the meeting, the parties issued a joint statement expressing their willingness to resolve the issue peacefully and agreed to meet again on Sept. 2 in Ankara.

The sources added that the international community appreciated Türkiye's efforts to establish a sustainable dialogue channel between the parties to resolve the crisis despite rising tensions in the two regions.

Türkiye-Ethiopia diplomatic relations date back to 1896, before the founding of the Republic of Türkiye. They also hold notable importance in Türkiye's Africa Partnership Policy.

The Turkish Embassy in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa was established in 1926, while Ethiopia's Embassy in Ankara opened in 1933. Although Ethiopia's Ankara Embassy was closed in 1984 due to a regime change, it was reopened in 2006.

As Türkiye-Ethiopia relations deepened through regular contact and mutual visits on a positive and friendly basis, trade volume increased from approximately $27 million in 2000 to around $345 million in 2023. The target is to increase trade volume to $1 billion over the next five years.

Türkiye ranks among the top four countries in terms of direct foreign investments in Ethiopia. As Turkish companies' interest in Ethiopia grows, 70 Ethiopian firms and 250 Turkish firms attended the Türkiye-Ethiopia Business Forum, which was organized by the Independent Industrialists and Businessmen's Association (MUSIAD) in Istanbul on May 27, 2024.

*Writing by Serdar Dincel in Istanbul