South African Government
Press release
Wednesday, July 31, 2013
The Government of the Republic of South
Africa condemns in the strongest terms the bomb attack that targeted a
building housing Turkish Embassy staff in Mogadishu, Somalia, on the
evening of 27 July 2013. The dastardly offensive carried out by
Al-Shabaab militia claimed six lives, including one Turkish official,
two Somali security guards and a university student.
The South African Government lauds the initiatives taken by Turkey to
support Somalia as the country gradually emerges from more than two
decades of instability and war. Turkey took the lead at a time when few
other countries were willing to enter the volatile State, when Prime
Minister Erdogan and his family landed in famine-wrought Mogadishu in
2011. Since then, Somalia has embarked on the road to recovery, with the
rest of the international community including South Africa, supporting
the rehabilitation of Somali institutions. South Africa welcomes the
announcement by Turkey that it will remain steadfast in its support for
Somalia despite the attempts by terrorists to plunge the country into
further disarray.
The South African Government expresses its deepest condolences to the
Governments and peoples of Somalia and Turkey and to the families of
the deceased. South Africa remains committed to supporting Somalia
through capacity and institution building projects and calls on all
groups and individuals who remain outside of the political process to
renounce violence, desist from cowardly acts of terrorism and join the
peace-driven political processes of reconciliation to ensure the
development and prosperity of Somalia.
For more information, please contact:
Nelson Kgwete
Cell: +27 76 431 3078
Issued by: Department of International Relations and Cooperation
30 Jul 2013