Politics Ethiopia and Somalia settle dispute over sea access

Ethiopia and Somalia have peacefully settled a dispute over access to the Red Sea.

Mediated by Turkey, the two countries on the Horn of Africa agreed to negotiate an agreement by the middle of the year that could allow the landlocked country of Ethiopia to lease a port on the territory of the neighboring coastal state on a long-term basis.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Somalia's President Hassan Sheik Mohamud and Ethiopia's Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed presented the agreement at a press conference in Ankara.

The crisis between the neighbors began about a year ago when Somalia's breakaway region of Somaliland agreed to grant Ethiopia access to the Red Sea. Somalia saw this as a violation of its sovereignty.

Ethiopia, with a population of around 126 million, has long been seeking access to the Red Sea, an important trade route linking East Africa with the Middle East, Europe and Asia.

Until now, Ethiopia's only trade route across the Red Sea has been via the port of Djibouti - at an extremely high cost. Talks with its neighbors Eritrea and Somalia have been unsuccessful in the past and have often ended in tensions.