Türkiye concerned over resumption of conflict in Ethiopia

By Diyar Guldogan

ANKARA (AA) - Turkish Foreign Ministry on Thursday voiced concern over the return of conflict in Ethiopia despite an indefinite humanitarian cease-fire.

"We invite the parties to return to dialogue for the permanent end of violence in the country and the establishment of peace and stability," the ministry said in a statement.

It added Türkiye will continue to support efforts to preserve peace, tranquility, and stability in Ethiopia.

The statement came after both the Ethiopian government and Tigray rebels confirmed a humanitarian truce had been broken following military escalation.

The Ethiopian army and the forces of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front traded blame as to which side violated the cease-fire that was reached in March, in areas along the administrative border between Amhara and Tigray regional states.

The government has expressed readiness to engage in talks with the rebels in the past several months without any preconditions as long as they are held under the sole mediation of the African Union.

But the Tigray rebels rejected the African Union as a mediator, recommending that talks be held with Kenya’s outgoing President Uhuru Kenyatta in that role.

Thousands of people, most of them civilians, have been killed and millions displaced since the conflict began in November 2020.

The UN has warned that Tigray “stands on the edge of a humanitarian disaster,” with more than 40% of the region’s estimated 6 million people in need of emergency assistance.

It also said that more than 5 million people were internally displaced in Afar and Amhara regional states where Tigrayan forces made military incursions a year ago, inflicting huge humanitarian and property damage.