Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Mogadishu (Agenzia Fides) - Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed arrived in Mogadishu today, February 27, where he was received at the airport by Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohammed. This is an important step towards reconciliation between the two countries of the Horn of Africa, after the signing in December by Ethiopia and Somalia, under the auspices of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, of the so-called "Ankara Declaration".
With this agreement, both sides committed themselves, among other things, to mutual respect for each other's sovereignty, unity, independence and territorial integrity. With the declaration signed in the Turkish capital, Ethiopia renounces the memorandum of January 1, 2024, with which Addis Ababa would have granted official recognition of the Somali secessionist region of Somaliland for a period of 50 years in exchange for access to the sea along a 20 km coastline for its "naval forces" (see Fides, 3/1/2024).
The memorandum had been described by the Somali government in Mogadishu as an "attack on its territorial integrity" (see Fides, 9/1/2024). During 2024, the Turkish government offered its mediation between the two countries (see Fides, 2/7/2024), which led to the declaration signed in Ankara last December, in which Somalia agreed to work with Ethiopia "to provide it with reliable, safe and sustainable access to and from the sea under the sovereign authority of the Federal Republic of Somalia".
Ethiopia has also pledged to contribute 2,500 troops to the African Union Support and Stabilization Mission in Somalia (AUSSOM), which replaces the previous African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS), which was also supported by the African Union. The Ethiopian contingent would be the second largest after the Ugandan contingent (4,500 troops). AUSSOM is intended to support the Somali army in the fight against the jihadist movements operating in the country.
Turkey has long been present in Somalia with its own troops and military bases. After an initial period of tension, relations between Ethiopia and Turkey have eased, also thanks to the rapprochement between the political parties in power in the two countries, Ahmed's Prosperity Party (PP) and Erdogan's Justice and Development Party (AKP). These days, a delegation of the Ethiopian PP is attending the 8th AKP Congress being held in Turkey. (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides, 27/2/2025)
