Turkish FM Çavuşoğlu, Ethiopian counterpart Demeke discusses Tigray conflict, legal action
Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu and his newly appointed Ethiopian counterpart Demeke Mekonnen discussed the conflict in the country’s Tigray region in a telephone conversation on Sunday.
Demeke informed Çavuşoğlu about Ethiopia’s goals for the implementation of the current operation in Tigray, says a statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
On November 4, Ethiopia launched a military campaign against the forces of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), which attacked the Northern Army’s Northern Command.
Demeke “recounted how the TPLF junta shamelessly attacked the northern leadership of the Ethiopian Armed Forces and tried to rob military equipment from the base,” the statement added.
The TPLF’s action was not only criminal but also treason because it compromised the country’s sovereignty, Mekonnen said.
The statement also quoted Mekonnen as saying “the Ethiopian government is determined to bring TPLF criminals to justice and restore the rule of law to the region.”
For his part, Çavuşoğlu said that the Turkish government understands the decision of the federal government in Ethiopia to take steps to maintain law and order in the region.
“He expressed his confidence that the operation would end soon and not endanger civil security,” the statement said.
Turkey’s top diplomat also congratulated his counterpart on his new position.
Turkey is one of the largest investors in Ethiopia in various sectors, including textiles, construction and other manufacturing sectors.
The Turkish State Aid Agency Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA) is also active in both development and humanitarian activities in Ethiopia.
The first Turkish Consulate General in the country opened in 1912 in the eastern city of Harar, with an embassy first inaugurated in Addis Ababa in 1926 and marking the first of its kind in sub-Saharan Africa. This was followed by the opening of the Ethiopian Embassy in Ankara in 1933.
