Ethiopia hails Turkish role in region, grain corridor mediation

Addis Ababa, September 01, 2022 (FBC) – Ethiopia appreciated the role Türkiye is playing in the region as well as its efforts in having brokered a grain export deal between warring Ukraine and Russia that alleviated a possible global food crisis, said Ethiopia’s Ambassador to Türkiye, Adem Mohammed.

“The role of Türkiye in this challenging region as well as in the Ukraine-Russia war is increasing positively,” Mohammed told Daily Sabah in an interview, saying that this is not only the case for the African people but that Türkiye is working for world peace.

Exports of grain, food and fertilizers from three Black Sea ports resumed under a deal between Kyiv and Moscow, brokered by the U.N. and Türkiye in July.

Mohammed explained that, although food crisis is affecting Africa, Ethiopia is working to produce more cereals and grain, which means the country is not largely dependent on Ukrainian or Russian grain, but he also pointed out that the supplies would still provide relief.

On bilateral ties with Türkiye, Mohammed said that the two countries enjoy “excellent relations in all domains.”

He pointed out that last year, several agreements, including in the sectors of defense, water and justice, were signed between Ankara and Addis Ababa. “These advanced our ties further.”

Describing ties as “century-old relations without ups and downs,” the ambassador said he hoped they would continue to grow in the future.

Ethiopia and Türkiye enjoy friendship and all-around cooperation. Türkiye opened its first embassy in sub-Saharan Africa in 1926 in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa. Over the years, the two governments have extended numerous high-level visits that produced very important outcomes that helped expedite the development of joint cooperation on both sides. The landlocked country in the Horn of Africa has become a primary destination for Turkish investors on the continent.

Regarding the Tigray conflict, Turkey has frequently voiced it is supporting every path that leads to peace and stability in Ethiopia and that Ankara is in touch with all sides in the country to urge negotiations.

“The peace, tranquility and integrity of Ethiopia, which has a strategic location and importance in Africa, is important to us,” President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said last year during a visit by Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.

Asked whether the grain would also reach northern Ethiopia’s Tigray region, which was deprived of humanitarian aid due to an ongoing conflict prior to the signing of a truce, Mohammed said that aid had been reaching the region until the rebels in the area broke the truce and relaunched attacks.

“It will be difficult for aid to reach Tigray unless they stop their fighting, get back to their positions and get ready for peace talks without preconditions,” the ambassador said, adding that unless the rebels stop the war it will be difficult to provide humanitarian aid to the region.

Mohammed also urged the international community to pressure them to sit at the negotiating table.

To give an example of the dangers and misconduct that humanitarian agencies face in the region controlled by the TPLF, Mohammed said that the group’s forces recently stole 570,000 liters of fuel belonging to the World Food Programme (WFP), which was meant for aid efforts.