to prevent straining fragile relations with the Arabs and Muslim world, which it heavily relies for its livestock trade. In August 2020, Somaliland expressed its support for the Israel–United Arab Emirates normalization agreement. Turkey Though not recognising Somaliland and accrediting the building to Somalia, Turkey has an active consulate in Hargeisa. Since 2013 Turkey has been a mediator between Somali and Somaliland governments. In 2019 Somali Minister of Foreign Affairs Ahmed Isse Awad had stated that Turkey plays a leading role in the mediation process. In 2012 Genel Enerji, an energy company mostly owned by Çukurova Holding had signed a deal with the Somaliland government to search oil reserves within the nation. United Arab Emirates In February 2017, both houses of the parliament of Somaliland accepted the bid from the government of the UAE for the Union Defence Force (UAE) to establish a military base in Berbera along with the redevelopment of the Berbera Airport. The United Arab Emirates has appointed a new representative to Somaliland which will be the first Arab nation to send a diplomat to Hargeisa. On 13 March 2021, Abdulla Al-Naqbi was appointed as UAE ambassador to Somaliland. Africa In 2011, the foreign ministers of South Africa and Tanzania said that they would not recognise Somaliland and preferred that Somalia remained a single country. In 2012, South Africa and Ethiopia again re-affirmed their continued support for Somalia's government, territorial integrity, and sovereignty at the mini-summit on Somalia in New York on the margins of the United Nations General Assembly. However, South Africa has formally declared that Somaliland fulfils the Montevideo Convention criteria for statehood in addition to it accepting the Somaliland passport. The African Union (AU) is considering Somaliland's application for membership to the bloc and has indicated a willingness to deal with it as an 'outstanding case'. Ethiopia Somaliland has good (economic) relations with neighboring Ethiopia; since the Eritrean–Ethiopian War (1998–2000), a large part of Ethiopian exports has been handled via the port of Berbera, since Ethiopia can no longer use Eritrean ports (in Massaua and especially Assab). These relationships stand in contrast to the “traditional hostility” towards Ethiopia felt by many Somalis in other areas, and against the background of low support among many northern Somalis for Siad Barre's Ogaden War against Ethiopia and the Ethiopian-backed Somali National Movement. So far, however, these have not led to official Ethiopian recognition. Guinea In late July