President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to Host Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud in Istanbul

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is set to welcome his Somali counterpart, President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, in Istanbul this Friday. The two leaders will convene at the Dolmabahçe office to engage in discussions covering a range of topics, including bilateral relations and regional issues.

Notably, no joint press briefing is expected following their meeting. However, several key issues are anticipated to be on the agenda, with the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas and the unfolding humanitarian crisis in Gaza taking center stage. Recent large-scale protests in the Somalian capital, Mogadishu, in support of Palestinians, mirror the sentiments expressed in Turkey.

Somalia and Turkey have nurtured a strong and multifaceted relationship, encompassing economic, diplomatic, and military ties. This alliance has steadily grown since President Erdoğan’s visit to Somalia in 2011. As a symbol of this bond, Turkey has established an 80,000-square-meter (861,112-square-foot) embassy in Mogadishu, which stands as its largest embassy in Africa.

Furthermore, Turkish humanitarian organizations have been actively operating in Somalia, playing a vital role in averting a famine in the region in 2022. Somalia has been grappling with one of the worst droughts in over four decades over the past two years, emphasizing the significance of international assistance.

In a noteworthy development, Somalia now houses Turkey’s largest overseas military base and training facility. With the capacity to accommodate approximately 1,500 trainees at a time, this facility has already trained over 5,000 Somali security forces, underscoring the depth of the military partnership between the two nations.

The upcoming meeting between President Erdoğan and President Mohamud is expected to further solidify the robust ties between Turkey and Somalia and address pressing regional concerns.