Erdoğan offers to mediate an end to fighting in Ethiopia's Tigray region

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Wednesday offered to help mediate an end to fighting in Ethiopia's Tigray region, vowing to protect the northeast African country's "integrity".

Erdoğan told visiting Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed that the war-hit country's "peace and integrity is important to us".

"If the situation deteriorates, all countries in the region will be affected," Erdoğan told a joint media appearance with Abiy.

"As Turkey, we are ready to make every contribution to the problem's solution, including mediation," Erdoğan said.
Underlining that Turkey attaches great importance to resolving the Fashaga conflict between Ethiopia and Sudan, Erdoğan said Ankara is ready to make any contribution, including mediation, to find an amicable solution to the conflict.

Ankara and Addis Ababa have friendly relations and the two leaders vowed to boost economic cooperation and trade.

Abiy said the two countries' relationship was built on "mutual respect and trust".

Noting the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA)'s successful works in his country, Abiy said that due to its strategic location, Turkey is an influential country that has shaped global relations.

"Turkey is a country that has developed a dynamic and robust economy," he added.

But the two leaders announced no specific agreements or deals.

Northern Ethiopia has been wracked by fighting since last November, when Ahmed sent troops to topple the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), the region's then ruling party.

Tens of thousands of Ethiopians have fled to refugee camps in Sudan, to escape a conflict that the UN says has pushed 400,000 people into famine-like conditions.

'FETO SCHOOLS IN ETHIOPIA HANDED OVER TO MAARIF FOUNDATION'

All schools in Ethiopia run by the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), the group behind the 2016 defeated coup in Turkey, have been handed over to Turkey's Maarif Foundation, the Turkish president said on Wednesday.

"I am pleased to share the information that all FETO schools in Ethiopia were handed over to our Maarif Foundation last week," Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said at a joint news conference with Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed in the capital Ankara.

Erdoğan thanked Abiy for Ethiopia's support in Turkey's fight against the FETO terrorist group.

FETO and its US-based leader Fetullah Gülen orchestrated the defeated coup of July 15, 2016, in Turkey, in which 251 people were killed and 2,734 injured.

After the defeated coup, Turkey established the Maarif Foundation to assume the administration of overseas schools linked to FETO, which the terrorist group has used as a revenue stream. Maarif also establishes schools and education centers abroad.