The Turkish parliament approved a presidential motion to deploy elements of the Turkish Armed Forces to Somalia, including to its territorial waters.
The Turkish forces will be stationed in Somalia for two years under a defense and economic cooperation agreement signed between the two countries in February to assist with security efforts against terrorism and other threats.
The motion, which was sent to Parliament last week, said Türkiye has been providing training, assistance and advisory support in Somalia to ensure security and stability within the scope of bilateral agreements.
The Somali-Turkish agreements will see Ankara build the Somali defense and security forces and ensure they gain the capabilities to counter terrorism, piracy, and all types of smuggling and other threats.
According to the motion, the Defense and Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement signed between Türkiye and Somalia on February 8, 2024 aims to expand cooperation, especially in the fields of maritime security, military training, and economic collaboration and to enhance Somalia's capacity to fight against illegal and unregulated activities, and use the economic resources for the development of the Somali Navy.
Under the deal, Türkiye will protect Somalia’s 3,000-kilometer coastline, bordering Kenya and Ethiopia to the west and Djibouti to the northwest.
It is still unclear whether such protection will include the Gulf of Aden and Somaliland, which declared its independence in 1991 but is still recognized internationally as part of Somalia.
The motion noted that the Somali government has asked Türkiye’s assistance to enhance Somalia's capacity and capabilities to combat illegal and irregular activities in its territorial waters, such as all forms of terrorism, piracy, illegal fishing, toxic waste dumping and any external intrusion or threat to the country's coastline.
The Turkish naval forces have been actively supporting international efforts to combat piracy in the Gulf of Aden, Somali territorial waters and the Arabian Sea.
The presidential motion was sent to Parliament one day after the Turkish Energy and Natural Resources Ministry announced it will send an exploration vessel off the coast of Somalia next September to search for oil and gas as part of a hydrocarbon cooperation deal between two countries.
Turkish Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar said his country plans to search for oil and gas in three blocks off the Somali coast.
At the signing ceremony for the Hydrocarbon Exploration And Production Agreement held in Istanbul, along with Somalia's Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, Abdirizak Omar Mohamed, Bayraktar said Ankara is sending the Oruc Reis ship to this region at the end of September, to start exploration activities.
