According to reports in Africa Intelligence magazine (https://www.africaintelligence.com/eastern-africa-and-the-horn/2022/06/21/erdogan-dispatches-diplomats-to-addis-ababa-ahead-of-high-profile-visit,109793752-gra), the Turkish government has reportedly sent a diplomatic delegation to Addis Ababa over the past week with the aim of preparing for a high-profile visit to the country over the next few days.
Ties between the Ankara and Addis Ababa governments are thus increasingly intensifying, as also confirmed by the visit to Turkey by Ethiopia’s chief of staff, Gen. Berhane Jula, last June 7. Gen. Jula met with his Turkish counterpart Yasar Guler and Defense Minister Hulusi Akar and then participated in a military exercise. The meeting was held in order to strengthen military cooperation between the two countries under the bilateral agreement signed in June 2021.
Ethiopian television, on the other hand, showed footage of the graduation ceremony for its military pilots last June 25, and during the footage, a number of drones were shown in flight that experts identified – among others – as Turkish-built Bayraktar TB2s (https://www.thedefensepost.com/2022/06/27/ethiopia-combat-drones-military-ceremony/).
Political relations between Ethiopia and Turkey have been steadily increasing, driven in part by the large economic investments that the Ankara government has supported over time in the Horn of Africa region, especially in the infrastructure sector.
