Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn was certainly happy to welcome President Recep Tyyip Erdogan of Turkey. By welcoming a president, who is increasingly becoming important in the global political circles, sometimes for controversial reasons, Hailemariam has once again affirmed the commitment of his government to sail through the ideological divides of the post-crisis world. For a leader of a country that is becoming the hot spot of foreign policy competition between the West and the rest, Erdogan’s visit marks that the contest is going to get even more interesting with time. For Erdogan, who became the 12th President of Turkey after his recent switching of position from the post of Prime Minister through the first ever direct presidential election, the visit is intended to consolidate foreign policy influence over the Horn of Africa. Indeed, the Turkish government seems to have the desire to play a pacifying role in the region that constitutes notoriously unstable countries, such as Somalia and South Sudan. Befriending Ethiopia, a key player in the region, therefore, is vital to successful foreign policy championship. This is not to mention the contribution of the trip to refocus the political debate in Turkey away from the alleged deterioration of respect to human rights in the country, a situation Erdogan for which is fiercely criticised. Little came out from the trip in the form of concrete partnership agreements between the countries, though, aside from a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on science and technology exchange. But the symbolic gesture of the meeting, after which Erdogan was awarded an Honorary Doctoral Degree from the Addis Abeba University (AAU), is an indication of a step ahead for both Erdogan and Hailemariam.
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