Ethiopian President Abiy Ahmed and Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud announced a critical agreement to end a yearlong dispute over Ethiopia’s access to the Arabian Sea.

Erdogan, who has known both leaders for years, has invested heavily in Somalia since 2011. Turkey has established a military base in the country, trained thousands of Somali soldiers, managed Mogadishu’s airport and port, and provided extensive humanitarian and military aid.

Somalia and Ethiopia said they would work together to resolve a dispute over Addis Ababa's plan to build a port in the breakaway region of Somaliland, which had drawn in regional powers and threatened to further destabilise the Horn of Africa.

Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan says a joint declaration between Ethiopia and Somalia ‘focuses on the future, not the past’, describing it as the first step towards a new beginning based on peace and cooperation between the neighbours.

Turkiye’s President Erdogan announced the breakthrough after talks between the Ethiopian and Somali leaders in Ankara.

Somalia and Ethiopia have reached a deal to end a nearly year-old bitter dispute following hours of Turkish-brokered talks in Ankara, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Wednesday. Hailing it as a "historic agreement",

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan announces talks between the two countries to end dispute over breakaway Somaliland region

Ethiopia and Somalia agreed to lower tensions over a deal that would allow Addis Ababa to build a military base on the coast of the breakaway region of Somaliland in exchange for a stake in its national airline.

Ethiopia has secured access to the sea through Somali territory, while Somalia's sovereignty and territorial integrity were affirmed under a landmark agreement reached between the two countries in the Turkish capital on Thursday.