Turkey to deploy Navy to Somalia waters

ANKARA, Turkey - A few months after signing Defence Cooperation with Somalia, the Republic of Turkey is set to deploy its Navy to Somalia waters, should the motion tabled by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan go through in parliament.

Somalia signed the defense pact with Turkey after Ethiopia signed an illegal Memorandum of Understanding with the breakaway region of Somaliland over access to the Red Sea. If implemented, the agreement would see Ethiopia getting 20 kilometers of the Red Sea in exchange for recognition of Somaliland.

Ethiopia intends to build a military base within the Red Sea along with a seaport, which would automatically replace the Port of Djibouti, Lamu, and the Port of Sudan as the main entry routes to the landlocked Horn of Africa nation.

Early this month, Turkey chipped in as a mediator with Ethiopia over the controversial agreement but there was no immediate resolution. They agreed to meet sometime in September this year still under the arms of Turkey as the chief mediator.

This development has accelerated Turkey's commitment to Somalia. On Thursday, Turkish Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar signed a hydrocarbon exploration and production agreement with his Somali counterpart, Abdirizak Omar Mohamed, in Istanbul. This agreement authorizes Turkish state company TPAO to conduct exploration activities in three different blocks within Somali maritime areas, the Middle East Eye reports.

Observers in Ankara say the government might have moved to send troops to protect TPAO ships that would conduct drilling operations in Somali waters in the coming months.

The motion presented to the Turkish parliament requests a two-year mandate, subject to renewal, granting President Erdogan the authority to deploy the necessary troops, which in this case would likely come from Ankara's naval forces. According to the motion, which was seen by the Middle East Eye, this action is in response to a formal request from the Somali government.

"Turkey's support will include assistance against terrorism, piracy, illegal fishing, smuggling, and other threats," the motion states. "The UN Security Council's resolution of December 1, 2023, on Somalia's fight against terrorism, also provides a legal basis for this cooperation."

The motion directly references the February agreement with Somalia as a basis for these actions. Although Somalia has formally ratified the deal, its contents have remained secret until now. Erdogan’s government has yet to present the deal to the Turkish parliament for its ratification process.

Somalia argues that the threat posed by Ethiopia risks scuttling the ongoing war against al-Shabaab militants who control large swathes of rural central and southern regions. Ethiopia is also a key security stakeholder in Somalia having dispatched over 4,000 soldiers to the country for the fight against Al-Shabaab.

GAROWE ONLINE