After Libya, Erdogan setting his eyes on Somalia
Tuesday 19/May/2020 - 04:40 PM
Asamaa al-Batakoshi
The colonial ambitions of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan are apparently endless, especially when it comes to Africa, a resource-rich continent.
Somalia
Turkey has been planning to turn Somalia into a strategic partner since 2011, according to the French magazine L'Express.
It said this was why Turkey offered unconditional aid to Somalia, including to help the poor country overcome the famine that hits it.
Turkey also plans to explore oil and gas off the Somali coast, about 3,000 kilometer-long, the longest in Africa, the magazine said.
Wealth
It said Erdogan is especially interested in Somalia because he wants to control the hydrocarbons of the country.
Erdogan also wants to control the Somali oilfields, while his country undergoes a tough economic crisis, it said.
Erdogan does not hide his intentions to exploit Somalia's wealth. He said earlier that the Somalis had asked him to explore hydrocarbons along the Somali coast as Turkey does along the Libyan coast.
This is an important issue for us, Erdogan said. We will take decisions quickly and start our operations because we can benefit from this wealth in a good way, he added.
Turkey has been increasingly dependent on hydrocarbons since the economic crisis started in it in 2019.
The Turkish government pays huge attention to relations with Somalia, thanks to the important strategic location of the African country.
Somalia overlooks the Gulf of Aden, the southern entrance of the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean.
Somali-Turkish relations improved greatly following Erdogan's visit to the African country in 2011. He was the prime minister of Turkey then.
Political Islam specialist Othman Tuzghart said Doha and Ankara sponsor some of the terrorist groups active in Somalia.
He warned against Qatari attempts to turn Somalia into another Afghanistan.
