Turkey opens its biggest overseas military base in Somalia
Turkish military officers will train Somali soldiers at the base which includes army dormitories, training grounds and prisons
Turkey has opened its biggest overseas military base in Somalia’s capital, cementing its ties with the volatile but strategic Muslim nation and building a presence in East Africa.
More than 10,000 Somali soldiers will be trained by Turkish officers at the base, a senior Turkish official said ahead of the ceremony in Mogadishu attended by Turkish military chief of staff Hulusi Akar.
The opening of the US$50 million base signals ever-closer ties between Turkey and Somalia. Turkey’s relations with the Horn of Africa date back to the Ottoman Empire, but President Tayyip Erdogan’s government has become a close ally of the Somali government in recent years.
At the opening ceremony on Saturday, Somali Prime Minister Hassan Ali Khaire thanked the Turkish government for opening the training school and said it would help the government “reconstruct” its national force – “not based on clan ... not from a particular place, but well-trained forces that represent the Somali people.”
He noted that the military school was Turkey’s biggest overseas. The facility can train and house 1,000 soldiers at a time and also has sports courts and a running track.
