Turkey pledges more support to Somalia

ISTANBUL - Turkey has pledged more support to the federal government of Somalia, following a meeting between President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his Somali counterpart Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, who is seeking to stabilize the Horn of Africa nation.

According to diplomatic sources, the two discussed bilateral relations and international developments at a closed-door meeting. Hassan Sheikh is fighting a declining economy and resurgence of Al-Shabaab terrorists who are wreaking havoc in the country.

Present at the meeting were Turkish National Defense Minister Yaşar Güler, Industry and Technology Minister Mehmet Fatih Kacır, and the Somali delegation, sources said.

Currently, Somalia is getting assistance from Turkey in training and equipping the Somali National Army, which is instrumental in the fight against Al-Shabaab. The elite Gorgor soldiers and the Haramacad paramilitary wing of the police are trained by Turkey.

Somalia is enjoying a close economic, diplomatic, and military friendship with Türkiye that has been growing since Erdoğan visited Somalia in 2011. Since then, Türkiye has built an 80,000-square-meter [861,112-square-foot] embassy in Mogadishu, which is its biggest embassy in Africa.

The elite troops have been on the frontline since the country activated the fight against Al-Shabaab, with the first phase leaving over 3,000 militants dead. The country is set to activate the second phase of operations against the Al-Shabaab in Jubaland and Southwest states.

President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud is fighting to defeat the Al-Shabaab militants and has since asked for support from the international community. The African Union Transition Mission in Somalia [ATMIS] prevailed to halt planned withdrawal, with Somalia citing logistical challenges as the battle with Al-Shabaab goes on across Somalia.

GAROWE ONLINE