Ankara welcomes Eritrea-Ethiopia peace deal

ANKARA

The Turkish Foreign Ministry on Sept. 17 hailed a peace deal between Eritrea and Ethiopia which aims at the normalization of relations interrupted since 1998.

“Turkey welcomes the signing of a peace agreement between Eritrea and Ethiopia by the Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki and Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed on 16 September 2018, in Jeddah, aiming at the normalization of their relations interrupted since 1998,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement posted on its website.

“We believe this peace agreement, which will contribute to the prosperity and well-being of the peoples of Ethiopia and Eritrea, will also serve peace and stability in East Africa,” the statement added.

Afwerki and Ahmed signed the deal on Sept. 16 in the Saudi city of Jeddah.

Eritrea seceded from Ethiopia in 1993, and from 1998 to 2000 the two countries fought a bloody war in which an estimated 70,000 people perished on both sides.