Turkey has called for a ceasefire in Ethiopia and said it was ready to mediate between the warring factions, which have been fighting for a year, and are now advancing on the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa.
A statement from the Turkish Foreign Ministry called on the warring parties in Ethiopia to immediately cease hostilities in order to achieve peace and stability.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s administration also said it was ready to mediate between the federal government and the TPLF.
The call comes at a time when countries including the US, UK and Belgium have called for a ceasefire. Meanwhile, the United Nations Security Council on Friday called for an end to the fighting and for an end to hate speech and incitement to violence and division.
The United Nations says about 7 million people in Ethiopia’s Tigrean, Amhara and Afar regions are in need of assistance, including 5 million in Tigray where an estimated 400,000 people are affected and living in famine-prone conditions.
The Ethiopian National Defense Forces (ENDF) on Friday sent a request to former soldiers to return to strengthen their defenses against the Tigray Defense Forces (TDF).
The call, however, is conditional on the new troops being sent to the country to ‘recognize and accept the constitution of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, which believes in the independence and unity of the people and is ready to serve them.
