Hassan Mohamud

The African Union (AU) has urged Ethiopia and Somalia to implement "without delay" an agreement aimed at ending tensions between the neighbors over Ethiopia's access to the sea, calling the deal an "important act."

The United Nations on Thursday praised a landmark Türkiye-mediated agreement between Somalia and Ethiopia aimed at resolving their differences.

Somalia and Ethiopia have reached a deal to end a nearly year-old bitter dispute following hours of Turkish-brokered talks in Ankara, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said Wednesday.

Hailing it as a "historic agreement", Erdoğan said he hoped the deal would be "the first step towards a new beginning based on peace and cooperation between Somalia and Ethiopia".

Türkiye is set to begin onshore oil and natural gas exploration in Somalia thanks to a new agreement between Turkish Petroleum Corporation (TPAO) and Somali Petroleum Authority, Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar has announced.

Turkish research vessel Oruç Reis has arrived off the coast of Somalia to conduct seismic surveys for oil and natural gas, Turkish Energy and Natural Resources Minister Alparslan Bayraktar announced on Oct. 25.

"Oruç Reis has reached its mission location after its journey across continents," Bayraktar shared on X.

Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan brought his counterparts from Ethiopia and Somalia together once again in the Turkish capital as part of Ankara's efforts to resolve the problems between the two African neighboring states.

Fidan met with Ethiopia Foreign Minister Taye Atske Selassie and Somali Foreign Minister Ahmed Moallim Fiqi separately on Aug. 12 before a trilateral meeting.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan spoke over the phone on Sunday with his Somali counterpart Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, discussing tensions between the African country and its neighbor Ethiopia.

The number of people killed in twin car bombings in the Somali capital Mogadishu, claimed by Al-Shabaab Islamists, has risen to 100, President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud said on Sunday.

"So far, the number of people who died has reached 100 and 300 are wounded, and the number for both the death and wounded continues to increase," he said after visiting the blast location.

Somalis anxiously waited to know the fate of their missing relatives on Sunday as emergency workers attempted to clear debris after a deadly 30-hour siege by Al-Shabaab jihadists at a hotel in the capital Mogadishu.

At least eight civilians have been killed in a militant attack on a popular hotel in the Somali capital, an official said on Aug. 20, as security forces continued to battle gunmen barricaded inside.

Fighters from the Al-Qaeda-linked Al-Shabaab stormed the Hayat Hotel in Mogadishu on Friday evening in a hail of gunfire and bomb blasts, trapping scores of people.