What Is Turkey's Erdogan Doing in Somalia?

After Syria, Libya and Karabakh, local media reported that the Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, gave orders to the security services to transfer mercenary fighters to Somalia.

Syrian sources revealed that the transfer of fighters will be carried out in coordination with the leaders of Somali militias loyal to Erdogan's administration in Mogadishu, and at the order of the president, according to Turkish newspaper Zaman.

The newspaper’s report added that pro-Erdogan officials held a meeting in the village of Medan Akbes in Afrin, northwestern Syria, on November 12, so that they could prepare for seالصومال

nding a number of "mercenary" fighters to Somalia.

According to the sources, the meeting dealt with setting up camps to train fighters before sending them to Somalia, noting that some militia leaders in Syria refused to send their fighters to Somalia, but after pressure by Turkish intelligence they gave in to orders.

The report disclosed that other orders were issued regarding the place where the establishment of training camps for fighters was set, which is the villages of Ali Beska and Blyka, belonging to the Rajo district of Afrin city.

Moreover, Turkey had opened a border crossing near the Turkish base in Afrin, in order to facilitate the transfer of fighters to Turkey and then to Somalia.

In the same context, the report cited the opinion of a Somali journalist, who said that Erdogan seeks to "Turkify Somalia" by changing the names of vital streets, institutions and facilities from Arabic to Turkish.

Journalist Abdul Qadir Hasan said that several Turkish companies have seized vital Somali facilities, most notably the Turkish company Favoury’s seizure of the concession to manage “Aden Adde International Airport”, and the Turkish “Albayrak” company seized 55% of Mogadishu's port revenues 5 years ago.

He pointed out that the Turkish military intervention in Somalia comes under the pretext of supporting the federal army against the rebels, but the truth is otherwise, as Turkey supports "terrorist groups" to dominate its control over the country's capabilities and to protect its influence in Somalia.

It is noteworthy that much evidence had confirmed Turkey's involvement in sending mercenaries to many countries, such as Libya and Karabakh, with the aim of fueling the war in these countries.

Ankara has been receiving many criticisms over these claims, especially after confirming death of dozens of Turkish military personnel and Syrian mercenaries in Libya and Syria.