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The strengthening of relations between Somalia and Turkey continues with a new agreement, this time on financial cooperation in the field of Defense. This was reported by “Garowe online”, giving news of the agreement signed by the Somali Minister of Defense Abdulkadir Nour and from the Turkish counterpart Yasar Guler. According to the document, Turkey will now provide the Horn of Africa country with financial assistance for military development projects, meeting Mogadishu’s needs to fill gaps in terms of new technologies and modernization of equipment. The agreement also includes investments in critical infrastructure that are essential to improve the performance of the Somali National Armed Forces. For Mogadishu, strengthening relations with Turkey is part of the delicate process of restoring the security skills entrusted over the years to international missions and the evolution of these latter in the unstable regional context. The military device deployed by the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (Atmis) is in fact being withdrawn and will be replaced by a similar mission called Aussom starting next January 1.
The troops from Djibouti, Kenya, Uganda and Burundi will be joined by Egyptians, to the detriment of Ethiopians, who are disliked in Mogadishu due to the months-long dispute with Addis Ababa. Somalia and Turkey signed a defense pact in February that gave Ankara explicit authority to develop Mogadishu’s maritime capabilities “to combat illegal and irregular activities in its territorial waters.” In July, Turkey’s parliament approved the deployment of naval vessels to the coast of Somalia, in preparation for future oil exploration. The Turkish research vessel Oruc Reis will conduct seismic studies in Somali waters, collecting data for oil and natural gas exploration for about seven months. Turkey has invested heavily in Somalia’s security and development since President Tayyip Erdogan made his first trip to the country in 2011. It is in the African country that Ankara has based its largest military training facility abroad.
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© Agenzia Nova – Reproduction reserved
