On 12 December 2024,

Ethiopia Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...

and

Somalia Somalia, officially the Federal Republic of Somalia, is the easternmost country in continental Africa. The country is located in the Horn of Africa and is bordered by Ethiopia to the west, Djibouti to the northwest, Kenya to the southwest, th ...

signed a joint declaration in

Ankara Ankara is the capital city of Turkey and List of national capitals by area, the largest capital by area in the world. Located in the Central Anatolia Region, central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5,290,822 in its urban center ( ...

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

to restore their

bilateral relations Bilateralism is the conduct of political, economic, or cultural relations between two sovereign states. It is in contrast to unilateralism or multilateralism, which is activity by a single state or jointly by multiple states, respectively. When ...

following a tension over the sovereignty status of

Somaliland Somaliland, officially the Republic of Somaliland, is an List of states with limited recognition, unrecognised country in the Horn of Africa. It is located in the southern coast of the Gulf of Aden and bordered by Djibouti to the northwest, E ...

and Ethiopia's access to

Red Sea The Red Sea is a sea inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia. Its connection to the ocean is in the south, through the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait and the Gulf of Aden. To its north lie the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and th ...

port. The joint of declaration was announced by Turkish President

Recep Tayyip Erdogan Recep is a Turkish name deriving from the Arabic name Rajab. It may refer to: People Surname * Aziz Recep (born 1992), German-Greek footballer * Sibel Recep (born 1987), Swedish pop singer Given name * Recep Adanır (1929–2017), Turkish fo ...

, who thanked both countries' leaders: Somali President

Hassan Sheikh Mohamud Hassan Sheikh Mohamud (Somali language, Somali: ''Xasan Sheekh Maxamuud''; ; born 29 November 1955) is a Somali politician serving as the president of Somalia since 15 May 2022. He previously held the office from 2012 to 2017. Hassan was previo ...

and Ethiopian Prime Minister

Abiy Ahmed Abiy Ahmed Ali (; ; born 15 August 1976) is an Ethiopian politician who is the current Prime Minister of Ethiopia since 2018 and the leader of the Prosperity Party since 2019. He rose through the ranks of government via the Information Networ ...

for their “historic reconciliation”. On 15 January 2025, Somalia's president Sheikh Mohamud made a surprise visit to Ethiopia to deal with their diplomatic tensions. The talk with Ethiopian officials resulted in the jubilation of their diplomatic relations.

Agreement

On 12 December 2024, Ethiopia and Somalia signed a joint declaration in Ankara, Turkey, to resolve the disputed sovereignty over

and Ethiopia's access to the Port of the Red Sea. The joint declaration was announced by Turkish President

, who thanked both countries' leaders: Somali President

and Ethiopian Prime Minister

for their "historic reconciliation".{{Cite web , last=Gbadamosi , first=Nosmot , date=2025-01-20 , title=How Turkey Became Africa’s Mediator , url=https://foreignpolicy.com/2025/01/15/turkey-africa-mediator-sudan-ethiopia-somalia/ , access-date=2025-01-16 , website=Foreign Policy , language=en-US On 15 January 2025, Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud made a surprise visit to Ethiopia to deal with their diplomatic tensions. Both governments agreed to restore bilateral relations ties. Ethiopia's State

Minister of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and foreign relations, relations, diplomacy, bilateralism, ...

Mesganu Arga Moach called the step "big milestone forward in our bilateral and brotherly relations".

References

2024 in Ethiopia 2024 in Somalia 2024 in Turkey 2024 in Somaliland Treaties concluded in 2024 December 2024 in Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Treaties of Ethiopia Treaties of Somalia Commercial treaties Peace treaties 2024 in international relations History of the Horn of Africa Ethiopian–Somali conflict (1948–present) Ethiopia–Turkey relations Turkish involvement in the Somali Civil War Somalia–Turkey relations Abiy Ahmed Ethiopian involvement in the Somali Civil War 2020s in Ankara History of Ankara

Agreement

See also

References