Somali and Turkish governments have agreed to strengthen their bilateral relations following a meeting between Somali prime minister and Turkish ambassador in Mogadishu.
The leaders discussed the countries’ centuries old relationship and the way forward to enhance it.
In a Twitter post, Prime minister Mohamed Hussein Roble said he had meeting with Turkish ambassador to Somalia, Mehmet Yilmiz at office Mogadishu on Thursday.
“I received Turkish Ambassador Mehmet Yilmaz and discussed issues of mutual interest to further strengthen our bilateral relations,” said PM Roble. “Turkey is a strong and historic partner to Somalia.”
The two countries had previously signed trade agreements in areas such as energy, mines, electricity, higher education, agriculture, and fisheries.
Late 2017, Turkey opened its biggest overseas military base in Somalia’s capital to cement bilateral ties and build a presence in East Africa.
Turkey’s relations with the Horn of Africa date back to the Ottoman Empire, but President Tayyip Erdogan’s government had become a close ally of the Somalis from 2011.
