As Ethiopia’s internal tensions deepen, the Amhara region has become the epicenter of renewed violence. In a recent interview with TRT World’s The Newsmakers, Amhara leader Eskinder Nega, chairperson of the Amhara Fano People’s Organization (AFPO), defended the armed resistance in his region, calling it a “war of self-defense” against what he described as “state-sponsored killings” targeting the Amhara people.
As Ethiopia’s internal tensions deepen, the Amhara region has become the epicenter of renewed violence. In a recent interview with TRT World’s The Newsmakers, Amhara leader Eskinder Nega, chairperson of the Amhara Fano People’s Organization (AFPO), defended the armed resistance in his region, calling it a “war of self-defense” against what he described as “state-sponsored killings” targeting the Amhara people.
Speaking via phone for security reasons, Eskinder said the international community misunderstands the nature of the Amhara struggle.
“There’s this huge misconception about the Amhara war of self-defense in the international community,” he explained. “We are not an ethnonationalist organization seeking Amhara dominance. On the contrary, we are fighting against identity-based, hate-infused politics.”
“We Reacted to Mass Killings”
Eskinder described the formation of the Fano movement as a reaction to what he claims were systematic killings of Amhara civilians by the Ethiopian state and regional forces.
“The genesis of our movement is the state killing Amharas on the basis of their identity — in the thousands, in the hundreds of thousands,” he said. “We reacted to mass killings. We tried peaceful means first, but when that failed, we had no choice but to defend ourselves.”
He rejected accusations that Fano militias are responsible for the worsening humanitarian crisis in the region, instead blaming the federal government for attacking its own citizens.
“Yes, there is a humanitarian crisis,” Eskinder said, “but morally and politically, the party responsible is the government — a government that’s attacking its people based on ethnicity.”
“We Are Not Ethnonationalists”
Responding to allegations that his movement is ethnonationalist or seeking an independent Amhara state, Eskinder was categorical:
“That’s completely false. We are not seeking independence. We want the walls between ethnic groups to fall. Our goal is to build bridges and move Ethiopia beyond ethnic politics.”
He added that the Amhara struggle is organized along ethnic lines only because “the attacks themselves are ethnic.”
“We are defending ourselves as Amharas because we are attacked as Amharas,” he said. “But our vision is a unified Ethiopia built on ideas, not ethnic identity.”
“Ethiopia Must Move Beyond Identity Politics”
Eskinder argued that Ethiopia’s 1995 constitution, which established an ethnic federal system, has institutionalized division and violence.
“Ethiopia’s problem is constitutional,” he said. “The constitution has married ethnicity to politics and created ethnic enclaves. We need a new constitution that discourages ethnic politics and builds national unity.”
He also called for cooperation among Ethiopian and regional groups that share the goal of dismantling ethnic-based politics.
“We want alliances with forces that believe Ethiopia must move beyond identity politics,” he said. “Unless we do, this crisis will end in genocide on a mass scale — worse than what happened in Rwanda.”
A Call for National Renewal
Eskinder concluded by urging Ethiopians to let go of historic grievances and look forward to a new political order based on unity and equality.
“We can’t remain prisoners of our history,” he said. “We must move on and create a nation that values people for their humanity, not their ethnicity.”
Editor’s Note: This article is based on TRT World’s The Newsmakers interview with Eskinder Nega, chairperson of the Amhara Fano People’s Organization, in the episode titled “Is Ethiopia Headed for Another Civil War?” The embedded TRT World video on this page is used for informational purposes under fair use.
