Ethiopia and Somalia have agreed to end their bitter dispute over Addis Ababa's plans to build a port in the breakaway republic of Somaliland after talks in Turkey.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan welcomed the “historic agreement”, which he said would finally ensure Ethiopia's access to the sea.
At the press conference he held hands with Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, who both agreed to respect each other's “sovereignty”.
The two neighbors have been at odds since January when Ethiopia signed a maritime treaty with Somaliland – which Somalia considers part of its territory.
He raised fears of a wider regional conflict as Egypt has been supporting Somalia – largely because of its anger with Ethiopia for building a dam on the Nile River.
In recent years, Turkey has become an important geopolitical player in the Horn of Africa because it has close economic ties with Addis Ababa and security agreements with Mogadishu.
Erdogan said the agreement – which was announced on Wednesday night in the Turkish capital, Ankara – was “the first step towards a new beginning”.
“I congratulate both brothers for reaching this historic settlement with passion and thank them for their constructive attitude,” he said.
President Mohamud said his country was “ready to work with the Ethiopian leadership and the Ethiopian people”.
While Prime Minister Abiy insisted that Ethiopia's efforts to access the sea did not threaten Somalia and the two had “dealt with the misunderstandings that have occurred in the past year “.
The conflict began on New Year's Day, when Abiy signed a controversial deal with Somaliland to lease a 20km (12-mile) stretch of its coastline for 50 years to set up a naval base.
In exchange, Ethiopia – the most populous country in the world by land – was to recognize Somaliland as an independent country, although Addis Ababa did not confirm this clearly.
Somaliland, which broke away from Somalia more than 30 years ago, has long pushed for recognition – but Mogadishu described the move as an act of “aggression”.
According to Ankara's joint declaration, the two Horn of Africa neighbors are to meet again in February to hold “technical talks”.
In the meantime they will try to reach “mutually beneficial commercial arrangements” to ensure that Ethiopia has access to the sea “under the jurisdiction of Somalia”.
It is not clear whether Ethiopia has abandoned the agreement it signed with Somaliland – something Somalia demanded during earlier mediation efforts.
last month, Somaliland elected a new president – former opposition leader Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi – who promised to “review” the maritime deal.
In his opening speech on Thursday morning he made no mention of it.
Somaliland is located in a strategic part of the world, and is seen as a gateway to the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea.
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(Getty Images/BBC)
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