As the world stepped into 2024 with renewed optimism, the Horn of Africa found itself entangled in fresh uncertainty following the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed on January 1 between Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and former Somaliland leader Muse Bihi. This MoU disrupted the region’s delicate equilibrium, reigniting historical tensions and diverting the attention of key stakeholders from their strategic priorities. However, in the months that followed, both parties, under Türkiye’s mediation, publicly committed to a peaceful resolution, pledging to avoid military confrontation. Within the Türkiye-Somalia-Ethiopia diplomatic triangle, Turkish policymakers effectively managed the dissemination of information, ensuring that negotiating parties and global audiences received a clear and coherent account of the mediation process. Turkish media played a pivotal role in providing real-time, transparent coverage, reinforcing Türkiye’s credibility as a mediator. However, the process also revealed a glaring challenge—in Somalia context, unverified local media reports and rampant misinformation often eclipsed factual reporting, fueling public unrest and distorting the intended narrative. This chapter contends that, as exemplified by the Ankara Declaration, the success of public diplomacy is not solely contingent on the effectiveness of the mediating country’s strategies. Rather, it is equally dependent on the resilience and credibility of the host country’s media ecosystem. If local media remain structurally weak and lack the necessary regulatory safeguards, even the most well-executed public diplomacy initiatives risk being subverted by misinformation campaigns. Drawing insights from the Somali case, this study underscores the need for investments in media capacity-building and regulatory frameworks in partner countries to ensure that public diplomacy efforts are not only effectively communicated but also protected against narrative manipulation. By examining the intersection of public diplomacy, media governance, and strategic communication in fragile states, this research contributes to a broader understanding of how information ecosystems shape the success or failure of international diplomatic engagements.