Addis Ababa, October 4, 2026 (FMC) — Tigray region’s youth are increasingly turning away from the illegal TPLF group’s war-driven politics as communities recognize the cost of decades of conflict, while entrenched networks benefiting from looting continue to cling to their interests, former head of the Tigray Interim Administration Dr Abraham Belay said.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with Fana Media Corporation, Abraham said the growing rejection of the illegal TPLF group is particularly visible among young people who increasingly seek education, employment and a peaceful future rather than continued mobilization for conflict.
He said the younger generation has begun to recognize that the political and military methods promoted by the group over decades have brought neither sustainable development nor meaningful opportunities for the people.
Dr Abraham pointed to the actions of Grade 12 students from Tigray who travelled to Addis Ababa for education, saying their determination to pursue learning rather than become instruments of conflict reflects a broader change in the aspirations of the region’s youth.
The former Tigray Interim Administration head said mothers, scholars and other sections of society have likewise come to understand that peace, education and development offer a far more viable future than returning to the cycle of war.
He said the illegal TPLF group, however, continues to cling to methods developed decades ago, despite the changing aspirations of the younger generation and the population’s growing desire for stability and opportunity.
According to Abraham Belay(PhD), the group’s continued political and military posture is also linked to entrenched networks that have benefited from the destruction and resources of the region.
He said a private looting network has developed around interests that operate collectively to preserve their access to wealth and influence, while the wider population receives little benefit.
The senior Ethiopian government official said those networks have a vested interest in maintaining the conditions that allow them to continue benefiting, making them resistant to peace, accountability and genuine development.
He said ordinary young people in Tigray have not been the beneficiaries of such a system, despite years of political mobilization carried out in their name.
Dr Abraham said the contrast is increasingly clear: while young people are seeking classrooms, skills, employment and opportunities to build their lives, those who benefited from the old system continue trying to preserve the conditions that sustained their interests.
He said the people of Tigray have paid an enormous price for a political approach that repeatedly placed conflict ahead of development and collective prosperity.
The former regional leader stressed that the region’s future depends on empowering its youth and communities rather than returning them to political and military mobilization.
He said the growing determination of young people to pursue education and a peaceful future demonstrates that the old politics of war and control is losing its grip.
Dr Abraham added that entrenched interests seeking to preserve looting and political privilege cannot indefinitely prevent the population from demanding a different future built on peace, education, development and opportunity.
Via፡FMC
