MOGADISHU ( Halbeeg News)-Turkey and Somalia agreed on enhancing bilateral cooperation and improve security in the Horn of the African nation.
In a meeting held in Mogadishu, Somali minister Foreign Affairs, Ahmed Issa Awad and Turkish ambassador, Mehmet Yilmaz discussed means to boost trade ties and relations between Somalia and Turkey.
During the meeting, the ambassador emphasized his country’s commitment to support Somalia in its process to rebuild the nation which is recovering from decades of civil war.
“My team and I had the honor to have working breakfast with H.E. Amb. Ahmed Isse Awad, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Somalia. Discuss enhancing cooperation between our Ministeries,” the ambassador said.
On his part, Somali minister for foreign affairs has lauded Turkey’s role to be among the forefront countries helping to bounce back on its feet.
Somalia and Turkey enjoy very close strong diplomatic, economic and defense relations since the high profile visit of the Prime Minister who is the current President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on August 2011.
Turkey operates a military training base in Somalia’s capital Mogadishu that is among its largest overseas military facilities.
It has the capacity to train more than 1,500 troops at a time, according to the Somali government.
The Turkish Embassy in Mogadishu is the largest Turkish embassy in the world.
Its international cooperation agency, TIKA, is also involved in the rebuilding of Somali national assembly apart from the humanitarian activities.
According to Turkish Foreign ministry website, Turkey has provided over $500 million in aid to Somalia and helped the Somali people in such areas as education, health, roads, ports, airports, fisheries, and energy since 2011.
Discussion about this post