Turkey reaffirms commitment to Somalia's security

Journal of Turkish Weekly
Monday, August 19, 2013

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Turkey will contribute to the security and stability of Somalia by training the African nation's police and intelligence services.

Despite a recent bomb attack on the Turkish mission in Somalia by the al-Qaeda affiliated terrorist organisation al-Shabaab, Turkey is committed to helping stabilise and build institutions in war-ravaged African nation by helping train police and intelligence forces.

The agreement between the two countries to establish co-operation mechanisms in security force training was signed in May 2010 and was approved by Turkish Parliament last November.

"This co-operation is very important for Somalia. After 20 years of instability, such a proposal from a big country like Turkey is appreciated by the Somali people," the Somali ambassador to Ankara, Mohamed Sheikh Abdirahman, recently told Today's Zaman.

"Somalia suffered years of instability. Turkey plays an important role in rebuilding the country," the ambassador also said.

In 2011, Ankara pushed Somalia to the forefront of its foreign policy agenda, becoming one of the few nations to open an embassy in the capital. Since then Turkey has provided $400 million in aid to the impoverished country building hospitals, schools and other structures and educating students in Turkey with scholarships.

However, the recent deadly car bomb attack on the annex building of the Turkish Embassy on July 27th, which killed a Turkish security guard and wounded three others, raised security concerns. The al-Qaeda linked militant group has long been threatening Turkish workers and aid agencies in Somalia, accusing them of spreading secularism as "a stooge of the West."

The Turkish Red Crescent and Turkish International Co-operation and Development Agency (TIKA) representatives in Somalia were previously targeted by terrorists. On August 7th, the Somali prime minister's office released a statement condemning the recent embassy bombing and applauded the work that Turkey has done on their behalf in the international arena.

"Long after Somalia is at peace and these events are but fading memories, we will remember those who came to our aid in our hour of need. Our partnership, forged in history and now consecrated in blood, will endure for generations to come," the statement said.

Prime Minister Abdi Farah Shirdon is expected to visit Ankara in the coming days.

The fragile government in Mogadishu depends on foreign support to prevent the city from becoming a haven for extremists.

Gokhan Bacik, associate professor of international relations at Ipek University, told SES Türkiye that Ankara wants to "show that the recent bombings did not change its position on Africa."

"Turkey wants to give a strong message that it still keeps its same strategic approach to Somalia," he told SES Türkiye.

Apart from a humanitarian mission, Bacik believes Ankara's main strategic interest is "in state formation -- or building in Somalia."

"Basically they [Somalis] need this and it seems that Turkey is one of the few countries -- if not the only one -- which are really eager to help," said Haldun Solmazturk, a retired army general who once participated in international operations in Somalia.

"This can partly be explained by the current Turkish government's intention of becoming the leading force -- if not the leader -- of the Muslim world," Solmazturk, now a senior fellow at the Strategic Research Centre of the Retired Officers' Association of Turkey, told SES Türkiye.

Back in Mogadishu, local analysts such as Abdi Aynte, the director of the Heritage Institute for Policy Studies, Somalia's first think-tank, view Turkey's security co-operation as "vital."

"Somalia's security institutions are chronically weak due to two decades of civil war and poor funding. Turkey has demonstrated that it is genuine about assisting the Somali people and their government whose biggest need is institutional building," he told SES Türkiye.

How can Turkey contribute to peace and stability in Somalia? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.

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