BY YOHANES JEMANEH
This year, Ethiopia and Turkey are celebrating the 125th anniversary of their bilateral relations. This relation was took shape in 1896, with exchange of delegations between Sultan Abdulhamid II and Emperor Menelik II on the basis of friendship and solidarity.
“Today, our thriving relations earned our diplomatic cooperation that has been consolidated in our meetings including this one. In the meeting, we reviewed the economic and commercial relations and planned to reach one billion-dollar trade volume target,” Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on 18 August 2021 in a joint press conference after conferring with Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed (PhD).
Turkish investments in Ethiopia is immensely augmenting. It is home to the most Turkish agriculture in the region. Our companies in Ethiopia are engaged in transportation infrastructure, apparel, furniture and are notably contributing to the country’s economy. Accordingly, they have employed about 10,000 Ethiopian citizens, he added.
“We will support Ethiopia in the field of humanitarian and development aid and other important projects. Ethiopia has a strategic location and importance in Africa so that its peace and integrity is essential to us. We will work together within the framework of overcoming existing problems. We aspire to ensure peace in the region and maintaining a stable environment.”
On the conference, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed (PhD) said that Ethiopia values its friendship and partnership with Turkey and highly appreciates the establishment of the Turkish cooperation and coordination agency office in Addis Ababa, the opening of which was the first in Africa.
The two countries have ancient civilizations with a rich culture and history. “Our two countries have enjoyed a long-standing and historical relationship dating back to the 16th century. Our historical and cultural bond have stood the test of time,” he noted. This has provided a firm foundation for the relations which continue to be based on mutual respect and trust as well as cooperation for joint development.
Turkey with its strategic location at the bridge between Europe and Asia has been shaped by international influences as much as it has shaped global affairs throughout its history. In the modern-day, Turkey stands as a model pursuing an independent national course of development defined by the interest of their own people that’s why it has been successful in building a dynamic and robust economy, according to the Prime Minister.
“I am pleased to note that from the great reformist and charismatic leader Mustafa Kamal Ataturk to the current transformational leadership of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey has gone through exemplary nation building growth in all aspects.”
Since the reform process began in Ethiopia in April 2018, the governments of the two nations have been working together to expand and strengthen the bilateral relations. Ethiopia is determined to strengthen the existing trade and investment relations between our two countries and we will continue to avail conducive investment condition for Turkish investors, he pledged.
The new agreements are signed to cooperate on the development of water, military, finance and application and financial assistance for military.
“We have signed additional important agreements in other sectors to complement our long-standing relations. These signed political, economic and social cooperation agreements need to be strengthened, sustained and made actionable,” the Prime Minister stressed.
Besides these agreements, our people-to-people ties are also strengthening from time to time and daily direct flight between Addis Ababa and Istanbul by our respective national carriers have augmented this. Moreover the tremendous impact of the Turkish film industry in improving this existing ties between our two people is increasingly becoming visible, he reiterated.
Ethiopia has always been the land of tolerance and respect for differences this summarized the essence of Ethiopia’s domestic as well as foreign policy. Ethiopia is a country of more than 80 languages and ethnicities. It is also a country of different religions with a population of more than 100 million.
Therefore. Ethiopians understand from their own experience the value of living together in harmony and the benefits of pursuing the path of prosperity. “We appreciate Turkey showing genuine friendship to Ethiopia in its time of need. Ethiopia is a reliable and trustworthy country. I wish to assure you that this will continue to be the defining characteristics of Ethiopia’s policy.”
The Prime Minister also expressed appreciation to the people and government of Turkey for the consistent support and friendship.
The Ethiopian Herald August 22/2021
