Friday December 8, 2023
Mogadishu (HOL) - Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud met with military experts and senior officers from Turkey, alongside Turkish Ambassador Ibrahim M. Yagli, at the Presidential Palace in Mogadishu on Thursday.
During the meeting, President Mohamud and the officials discussed the strengthening of military cooperation between the two countries and the Turkish government's support to the Somali army in the ongoing military operations in the country.
In 2017, the Turkish government opened its largest overseas military base in Somalia's capital to train over 10,000 Somali soldiers. The military base, reportedly costing $50 million, has the capacity to train at least 1,500 soldiers at a time, according to Turkish and Somali officials.
Since then, thousands of Somali soldiers who graduated from the Türkiye-Somalia military training base (TURKSOM) have been actively participating in military operations against al Shabab.
Relations between Turkey and the Horn of Africa nation are historically strong, and picked up pace after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's official visit in 2011, making him the only non-African leader to visit Somalia in 20 years.
Turkey has also been continuing its support to Somalia with humanitarian aid in the areas of health, education and security.