Addis Ababa, December 11, 2024 (FMC) – Ethiopia and Somalia have reached a deal to end dispute and foster peace and development for mutual benefits of their two peoples following the agreement brokered by President of Turkiye, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in Ankara.
On the occasion, President Turkiye, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan the declaration signed by both sides is focused on the future and not to the past. “And these two family countries which carry importance for us, their principles that they are going to build from now on is now registered.”
“The people of the region have the wisdom of overcoming challenges throughout the history. And with the agreed joint declaration, we hope that it will foster cooperation, economic development and prosperity, and it will be a strong ground for these to happen,” the President added.
Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, stated that “As neighbors, Ethiopia and Somalia have endured relations for centuries. We are not only neighbors, but brothers and sisters whose fates have been bound by blood. Not only do Ethiopians and Somalis share common ancestry, language, and culture, but we are also held together with the blood sacrifice that has been paid by thousands of Ethiopian soldiers in defense of the security of the State of Somalia from terrorist forces.”
“Over the past six years Ethiopia has asserted its commitment to regional integration not only in wordless but intangible needs. I strongly believe, as does my government, that the growth and stability of the Horn of Africa regions is premised on mutual development. Peace and growth is a shared dividend. Allow me to assert here again that Ethiopia’s aspiration for secure and reliable access to the sea is a peaceful venture and will benefit all our neighbors.” Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed added.
President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud said that Ethiopia and Somalia are two neighborly countries, and they have mutual interests in cooperating together and building a prosperous future of both our two countries and our two people.
“Somalia, as has been, will remain a true friend of Ethiopia for the future and the years to come. In order for that relationship to benefit our people, we belong to a region where peace and stability is the first priority for our people’s lives,” he added.
“And we have common and mutual opportunities to develop together in our own interests. Somalia will contribute to this debt, and we are ready to work with the Ethiopian leadership and the Ethiopian people to benefit the opportunities that we had in all aspects.”
“As we said here, we have recognized that the sacrifices that the Ethiopian forces made in Somalia within the African Union Peacekeeping missions many, many years in the past – that shows how much our people are interlinked and we will keep continuing on that,” he added.
Besides that, Ethiopia and Somalia has so many commonalities than differences. Our differences are very limited. Our commonalities are very high. We will try and we will do everything that moves forward and benefits our people.
Our region needs our cooperation. The home of Africa is a very volatile region, which needs both Ethiopia and Somalia to work together in order to provide a mutual benefit for our countries, our people, and the people of the region as well.
We have a lot of opportunities for prosperity, and we will do together to make sure that our people live and benefit those opportunities, he noted.