Turksom: Erdogan’s baton in Somalia to control Horn of Africa

Mahmoud al-Batakoushi

The Turkish regime has succeeded in recent years in militarily penetrating Somalia, one of the most important countries in the Horn of Africa, within the framework of Ankara’s suspicious scheme to control the reins of affairs there, as it established its largest military base abroad in October 2017, which includes three military schools, in addition to weapons and ammunition stores. The base cost approximately $50 million and is located on the coast of the Indian Ocean. It operates with a training capacity of 1,500 Somalis and is able to receive naval vessels, military aircraft and commandos.

Ankara declared that the main goal of establishing the Turksom military base is to help create a strong Somali army capable of confronting Al-Shabaab and other armed groups, in addition to defending the country from external enemies.

Because of the importance of this military base for the Turkish regime, it took care of all the burdens and costs, which were not just limited to training, housing and food, but also ensured, after the graduation of soldiers and officers, to pay their salaries and provide them with other military supplies in order to help serve their country and perform the task entrusted to them.

The military base, which is located two kilometers south of the Somali capital, Mogadishu, is located on about 400 hectares, according to a military agreement concluded between the two countries in December 2012, through which Turkey pledged to participate in the rehabilitation of the Somali army, which gave Turkey great concessions over the strategic Gulf of Aden. It will also be a station for expanding Turkish influence in the African continent, after Turkey set foot on the Arabian Gulf by establishing a military base in Qatar.

Turksom has opened new markets for Turkish weapons and strengthened Ankara’s presence in the Middle East and Africa, given the importance of Somalia’s geographical location linking continents and being an important energy corridor in the world, in addition to the resources and oil reserves in Somalia.

The Turkish side announced that the goal of this base is to train the Somali army and maintain security in the country, but the real goal goes beyond that to reach a kind of strategic expansion in this geographically important region, which will enable Ankara to strengthen its position in some regional files by presenting itself as a strong regional alternative ready to achieve and protect the interests and goals of Western powers and the United States in the region, within the framework of its strategy aimed at building power and influence and creating great political, economic and military power from it, as well as strengthening the Turkish presence in the Horn of Africa. The region, especially Somalia, is strategically important because it is located at the heart of the regional scene, making it the strategic depth of Arab national security, and it is also geographically close to the Arab Gulf region and the Middle East, as Somalia overlooks the Red Sea and the Bab al-Mandab strait, where Turkey is seeking to prove its presence and influence these waterways.

Turkey is also striving to protect its economic interests in the African continent and to seek more investments in East Africa and the Horn of Africa, as its presence in this region gives Turkey many advantages at all political, economic, security and military levels.

Ankara has also played an active role in training Somali security forces since the national security and stability plan was adopted in the country in August 2012, as it participated in providing military training, and it was confirmed by Somali researcher Salah Addo in his master’s thesis that Turkey exploited the security aspect to penetrate Somalia in order to reach its goals in the Horn of Africa, under the pretext of combating Al-Shabaab and eliminating the piracy operations that spread near the coast of Somalia.

The greatest evidence of Turkey’s malign goals is what was disclosed by former Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, who emphasized the importance of incursion into the Somali security services, calling on his country to intervene in building the Somali security apparatus. He said that a Somali-led public order based on state sovereignty should be the fundamental principle of security in the country.

During the past years, Turkey has carried out many training courses for Somali security and intelligence, which were held in Mogadishu and Ankara. In addition, the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA) opened the largest Turkish military training center outside the Turkey in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, which is equipped with the best means of military training.