Turkey, Ethiopia stood by each other in times of difficulties: Amb Yaprak Alp

Addis Ababa, February 26, 2022 (FBC) – Turkish Ambassador to Ethiopia, Yaprak Alp, noted that Turkey and Ethiopia have stood by each other in times of difficulties.

In an exclusive interview with ENA, the ambassador said Turkey and Ethiopia have excellent relations and “the two countries have stood by each other in times of difficulties.”

Furthermore, she elaborated that the two countries have also been cooperating in political, economic, business areas, among other multifaceted spheres.

The ambassador pointed out that “Turkey has been a friend of every Ethiopian in this huge and beautiful country and one of the issues we are also trying to do with this beautiful country is development assistance.”

Many Turkish agencies and NGOs have already come to the country and are building water projects, giving seeds of agriculture in different northern and southern parts of Ethiopia, according to the ambassador.

Ambassador Alp said that the Turkish government also has a very important task to do with the federal government of Ethiopia and regional states to see where assistance is needed. “In the very near future we will see doing something as well.”

Commenting on the initiative of the Ethiopian government to conduct national dialogue, she stated that the Turkish government has made an official statement welcoming it after the national dialogue commission was established.

“We welcome all roads to stability and peace in Ethiopia. We are very happy to see this step is being taken, and we hope the conflict will be solved very soon for all our brothers and sisters here.”

It is to be recalled that the governments of Turkey and Ethiopia signed a Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation in the field of water, Military Framework Agreement, Implementation Protocol Regarding Financial Assistance and Military Financial Cooperation Agreement, following the visit of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed to Turkey in August, 2021.

The first diplomatic contacts between Ethiopia and Turkey date back to 1896.