Ethiopia, Somalia agree to resolve feud in Turkey-brokered deal

Ethiopia and Somalia agreed to lower tensions over a deal that would allow Addis Ababa to build a military base on the coast of the breakaway region of Somaliland in exchange for a stake in its national airline. “We have taken the first step toward a new beginning based on peace and cooperation between Somalia and Ethiopia,” Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said early Thursday as he announced the deal he brokered between Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and Somali President Hassan Sheikh. Under a previous accord announced Jan. 1, Somaliland had granted Ethiopia the rights to establish a military base and commercial facilities on its coastline. In exchange, Somaliland would get an unspecified stake in Ethiopian Airlines, while Africa’s second-most populous country would consider granting it formal recognition. Somalia protested, saying the deal violated its territorial integrity. Somaliland declared its independence from Somalia in 1991, but has since failed to gain widespread international recognition as a sovereign state. The “Ankara Declaration” agreement to de-escalate tensions followed the election of Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi, a former speaker of parliament popularly known as Irro, in Somaliland last month. That result cast doubt over whether the semi-autonomous region would honor the Ethiopia deal to build a military base on its coast. For now, Somalia and Ethiopia have agreed “to forgo and leave behind differences and contentious issues and forge ahead” and start technical negotiations to resolve disputes with Turkey’s help “no later than end of February 2025,” a joint declaration said. <br/>