Turkish, Ethiopian foreign ministers discuss Tigray conflict

 

File photo: Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu held a meeting in Ankara with Demeke Mekonnen, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia on 15 February 2021.

Turkey is ready to provide support to end conflict in Ethiopia, Cavusoglu tells counterpart Demeke

The Turkish foreign minister on Friday discussed the latest situation in Ethiopia with his Ethiopian counterpart over the phone, Anadolu Agency reportes.

 

Mevlut Cavusoglu told Demeke Mekonnen that Turkey is ready to provide support to end the conflict in Ethiopia and to solve the problem through dialogue, the sources said on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on speaking to the media.

 

On Nov.12, Tigray Defense forces (TDF) threatened to "hunt down" foreigners they said were supporting the Ethiopian government as mercenaries and technical experts in a year-long war.

 

Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) spokesperson Getachew Reda said the foreigners could be from Turkey, China, Israel or the United Arab Emirates.

 

Ethiopia’s government signed a military cooperation agreement with Turkey in August, amid reports it wanted to deploy drones in the war.

 

“There have already been a number of claims of the Chinese arming the Ethiopians with Wing Loong drones, and the Turks have also been providing drones for the Ethiopians,” Martin Plaut, senior research fellow at the Institute of Commonwealth Studies at the University of London, told Al Jazeera.

 

The Ethiopian government said on Wednesday that The prime minister, a 2019 Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Abiy Ahmed has gone to the frontline to lead the nation from battlefront, handing his daily duties to Demeke, who is also the deputy prime minister.

 

Prime Minister Abiy said on Friday that the Ethiopian National Defense Forces have controlled Kasagita and it will capture Burka and Chifra in Afar region on Friday.

 

Meanwhile, government spokesperson Legesse Tulu, on November 18, said Ethiopian Army have controlled Afar’s Kasagita.

Earlier this week, the Turkish Embassy in the capital Addis Ababa urged Turkish citizens in Ethiopia to leave the country due to the escalating clashes between army troops and members of the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF).

 

On Nov. 2, the Ethiopian government declared a state of emergency in the country due to TPLF attacks advancing the capital.