Türkiye Expresses Continued Support for Somalia, With Emphasis on Defense

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan met on Saturday with his Somalian counterpart Hassan Sheikh Mohamud (Turkish presidency)

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday affirmed his country’s ongoing commitment to supporting Somalia across various domains, with a specific emphasis on defense.
During talks with his Somalian counterpart Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, Erdogan also expressed Türkiye's readiness to engage in any mediation efforts to address the tensions between Somalia and Ethiopia.
The two presidents met on the sidelines of the Antalya Diplomacy Forum.
The meeting addressed Türkiye-Somalia relations, Israel's massacres in the Palestinian territory as well as humanitarian aid, the fight against terrorism, and regional and global issues, the country’s Communications Directorate said on X.
The meeting was attended by Türkiye’s National Defense Minister Yasar Guler, the country’s National Intelligence Organization’s head Ibrahim Kalin, and the president’s chief advisor Akif Cagatay Kilic.
On February 8, the two countries signed the Defense and Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement, which involved cooperation in the fight against terrorism as well as military-financial cooperation. The deal was signed between Turkish Defense Minister Yasar Guler and his Somali counterpart, Abdulkadir Mohamed Nur, in Ankara.
The ten-year agreement will see Ankara train and provide equipment to the Somali Navy, and will also support economic infrastructure construction, marine resource protection, counterterrorism efforts, and prevention of all illegal activities along Somalia's coastline.
In a televised address on the day of the signing, the Somali President noted that the deal is not aimed at confronting Ethiopia or invading any other country.
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 the Somaliland, which declared its independence in 1991 but is still recognized internationally as part of Somalia.
Though Ankara does not officially recognize Somaliland, it maintains a good relationship with the small state on the coast of the Gulf of Aden.
In an opinion published last month, Somalian Defense Minister Abdulkadir Mohamed Nur said the agreement signed with Türkiye proclaims “our shared commitment to collaboration, our deep-seated trust in each other, and our collective affirmation of the significance of global security.”
He noted that the strategic implications of this agreement are poised to safeguard the interests of the wider international community.
“As evidenced by the situation in Yemen, Somalia's strategic geopolitical location and the surrounding political dynamics are crucial to global welfare and peace,” Nur added.
Strategic experts, including former Turkish ambassador to Chad and Senegal Ahmet Kavas, say the agreement between Türkiye and Somalia has significant repercussions in the Horn of Africa.
Kavas said Yemen, Djibouti, and Somalia are located on both sides of the Gulf of Aden. He explained that Britain, France, the US, and Israel have great influence in the Horn of Africa where they built military bases in Ethiopia, Somalia, and Djibouti.
“Now, Türkiye will have a military presence in Somalia and therefore, it is possible that Ankara will start to protect the coastal waters in the Gulf of Aden using its warships. Of course, this will lead to a change of power balances,” he explained.