Erdogan is set for a visit to Ethiopia and Somalia after Ankara deal

Istanbul — The president of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan is set for a visit to Ethiopia and Somalia after successfully brokering a truce between the two countries, ending tensions which could have further threatened the Horn of Africa's integration.

Erdogan held meetings with President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud of Somalia and Ethiopia Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed where the three agreed to boost cooperation without infringement of any country's sovereignty and territorial integrity principles.

"I will visit Ethiopia and Somalia in the first two months of the New Year," he wrote in a message that referred to the deal between Ethiopia's Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud in Ankara on December 11.

The pair agreed to end their nearly yearlong bitter dispute after hours of talks brokered by Erdogan, who hailed the breakthrough as "historic." Ethiopia had signed an agreement with Somaliland which grants it 20 kilometres of access to the Red Sea in exchange for recognition of the breakaway region.

But the arrangement irked Somalia, which reached out to several countries including Turkey and Egypt for protection of its coastline, leading to tensions within the Horn of Africa in the last 10 months.

Previously, Turkey, which had signed a defence pact with Somalia, tried to mediate the conflict but Somalia insisted that Ethiopia had to withdraw from the agreement first before any meaningful mediation.

Fresh from his latest diplomatic success, Erdogan telephoned Sudan's army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan on Friday and offered "to step in to resolve the disputes between Sudan and the United Arab Emirates," his office said.

Turkey is positioning itself as the next military, trade and diplomatic powerhouse and the Somalia/Ethiopia conflict proves its outstanding contributions towards peace and stability. The trip is scheduled for early next year, sources said.