By Dawan Africa - Reporter
Mogadishu(Mogadishu24)-President of the Federal Government of Somalia, Hassan Sheikh Mohamed on Tuesday revealed that the Maritime Security and Economic Deal between the Somalia and Turkey has turned into reality following the arrival of Turkey's TCG Kinaliada Corvette at Mogadishu Port.
In his address aboard the navy warship, the President emphasized the strategic partnership between Türkiye and Somalia, particularly in the areas of humanitarian aid, security, defence, and economic development.
The President expressed gratitude for Türkiye’s support of Somalia’s efforts to protect its territorial waters within the framework of the recently signed Defense and Economic Cooperation.
Turkish Ambassador to Somalia, Alper Aktaş delivered a key speech at Mogadishu Port on the occasion of Türkiye’s National Sovereignty and Children's Day while reaffirming Türkiye’s strong support for Somalia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, and further stressed that “the historical relations between our two countries now point to a unity of destiny”.
The Ambassador said that Turkey-Somalia cooperation was gradually improving becoming productive since the re-election of President Mohamud, saying that Turkey is committed to stand side by side with their Somali brothers and sisters.
But arrival of Turkey's Naval ship to Mogadishu, Somalia was part a long journey in which TCG KINALIADA (F-514) will conduct port visits between April 8-August 19, 2024, in order to demonstrate the capabilities of Turkish Naval Forces, introduce our national platforms and improve bilateral relations with the countries to be visited according to a statement released earlier this month.
The ship made visits to Jeddah/Saudi Arabia, Djibouti, and Mogadishu,Somalia today and will pay the same visits to Male/Maldives, Chittagong/Bangladesh, Kuala Lumpur/Malaysia, Jakarta/Indonesia, Bangkok/Thailand, Hong Kong/China, Busan/South Korea, Kushimoto/Japan, Tokio/Japan, Hiroshima/Japan, Manila/Philippines, Singapore, Colombo/Sri Lanka, Mumbai/India, Muscat/Oman, Doha/Qatar, Abu Dhabi/United Arab Emirates, Karachi/Pakistan and Aqaba/Jordan.
The Warship's arrival to Somalia also comes two months after the two countries signed maritime security and economic deal and later signed gas and oil exploration agreement.
“The 10-year agreement will help develop the Somali Navy’s capacity to enhance maritime security, protect resources, and combat international terrorism, external threats, and illegal and unregulated activities in Somalia’s territorial waters”, President Hassan said at the time.
“Turkish Government is a country we can entrust our matters into them….Turkey became the first country which was ready to support us. We will negotiate everyone who is in the interest of Somalia”,the President added.
