Somalia, Ethiopia agree on compromise to end tension

Somalia and Ethiopia have agreed on a joint declaration to resolve their dispute over the breakaway Somaliland region and land-locked Ethiopia’s push for sea access, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has announced, reports Al Jazeera.

Speaking in a joint news conference in Ankara, Erdogan late on Wednesday thanked Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed for their “historic reconciliation”.

Hailing the 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”, and would eventually ensure that Ethiopia – the most populous land-locked country in the world – gains sea access.

“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,” the Turkish leader said.

“This joint declaration focuses on the future, not the past, and records the principles that these two friendly countries, which are very important to us, will build from now on,” Erdogan said later in a post on social media.

The two neighbouring countries in the Horn of Africa have seen tensions escalate since Ethiopia struck a deal in January with Somalia’s breakaway region of Somaliland to lease a stretch of its coastline for an Ethiopian port and military base in exchange for diplomatic recognition, although this was never confirmed by Addis Ababa.