The Ethiopia Prime Minister, Dr Abiy Ahmed has returned home after successful deliberations at the 3rd Turkey-Africa Partnership Summit in Istanbul, held under the theme “Enhanced Partnership for Common Development and Prosperity.”
Dr Abiy and his delegation arrived in Istanbul, Turkey on Friday. On the sidelines of the summit, he held talks with the President of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, where the two leaders committed to accelerate the existing good bilateral relations between the two countries.
After the one-on-one meeting, Dr Abiy used his twitter account to say that the historical relations between the two countries have always been rooted in mutual respect and that their partnership continues based on constructive engagement.
During the meeting, Dr Abiy who was clad in a black suit and a pink tie with black stripes, commended President Erdoğan for sustaining the Turkish-Africa partnership platform and expressed the opportunity for enhanced investment cooperation between Ethiopia and Turkey.
I commend President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan for sustaining a platform that continues to advance and promote mutually beneficial cooperation between Turkey and African countries. This Summit is an important mechanism for development cooperation.
Dr Abiy Ahmed, the Prime Minister of Ethiopia
Ethiopia and Turkey have had good historical and cultural ties largely focused on the economy. Turkey’s investment in Ethiopia is about $ 3 billion. According to official reports, Turkey, which invests heavily in the textile sector, is the second largest investor in Ethiopia after China. Turkish companies in Ethiopia have more than 20,000 Ethiopian employees.
Speaking in August at the inauguration of the new Ethiopian Embassy in Ankara, Turkish Foreign Minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu, lauded Ethiopia’s efforts to fight terrorism and pledged his country’s cooperation in this regard.
Although relations between the two countries have for centuries been largely dependent on the economic sector, Ethiopian Foreign Affairs Ministry Spokeswoman, Dina Mufti, said there is a desire to expand Ethiopia’s relations with Turkey in a multi-faceted manner, including security.
The Prime Minister who himself has been at the frontline fighting against the remnants of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) who for selfish reasons of forcefully and illegally causing regime change, have for more than a year killed thousands of innocent people, raped women and girls among other atrocities.
He returns at a time when the country’s army, Ethiopia National Defence Forces (ENDF), continues to register overwhelming victory over the TPLF terrorists, the latest area to have been liberated being North Wollo Zone where its capital Weldia was recaptured.
