ANKARA [SMN] – The president of Somalia Hassan Sheikh arrived in Turkiye’s capital Ankara on Friday to attend the inauguration of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
On his arrival at the Ankara Airport, the prime minister was received by senior officers of the Turkish foreign ministry and diplomatic officials from the Somali embassy in Turkiye, per the reports.
Hassan Sheikh’s trip to Turkiye came following a formal invitation from his Turkish counterpart Erdogan who stood victorious in the second round of elections held on May 28.
After twenty years of rule, President Erdogan won with 52.18% of the run-off vote, while opposition candidate Kemal Kilicdaroglu received 47.82%, according to official results.
The experts believe that the fraternal ties between Somalia and Turkiye are set to deepen further after Erdogan’s re-election in line with our shared resolve and common destiny.
Turkey developed closer relations with Somalia in 2011 when Erdogan visited Mogadishu during the famine which killed 50,000–260,000 after the country was hit by the worst drought in 60 years.
Turkey built a military base in Mogadishu, the largest in Africa in 2017, and has trained nearly 5,000 Somali soldiers and officers at various times, accounting for roughly one-third of the Somali army.
