Somalia on Wednesday marked 15 years since Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s historic visit to Mogadishu, a trip that transformed relations between the two countries and helped galvanise international action during one of the Horn of Africa’s worst humanitarian crises.
The anniversary commemorated Erdogan’s August 19, 2011, visit to Somalia when he was Türkiye’s prime minister.
He travelled to Mogadishu during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan with his family, including First Lady Emine Erdogan, senior ministers, lawmakers, Turkish businesspeople, humanitarian organisations, media representatives and civil society groups.
At the time, Somalia was in the grip of a devastating famine after severe drought, years of conflict and political instability. Millions were at risk of starvation, while much of the international community viewed Mogadishu as inaccessible and Somalia as a country with little prospect of recovery.
The visit helped put Somalia’s crisis at the centre of international attention, paving the way for what became Türkiye’s largest humanitarian operation abroad and marking a dramatic shift in Ankara’s engagement with Somalia.
Speaking at the anniversary ceremony in Mogadishu, Turkish Ambassador to Somalia Alper Aktas described Erdogan’s visit as far more than a diplomatic engagement.
“This was not an ordinary official visit. It was proof that the Somali people were not alone,” Aktas said. He described the trip as a demonstration of “courage in the face of fear, conscience in the face of indifference, and solidarity in the face of despair.”
The ambassador said the visit sent a message that Somalia should not be treated as a country whose destiny was to be determined by others, but as a sovereign state deserving equal partnership.
The relationship quickly developed beyond emergency assistance. Türkiye reopened its embassy in Mogadishu in November 2011, while Turkish Airlines resumed direct flights to the Somali capital in March 2012, helping reconnect Somalia with the outside world after more than two decades of isolation.
Türkiye subsequently expanded its engagement into healthcare, education, infrastructure, municipal services and institutional development. The Recep Tayyip Erdogan Training and Research Hospital, roads, schools, humanitarian programmes and capacity-building initiatives became visible symbols of the partnership.
Erdogan returned to Somalia in 2015 and 2016, further deepening the partnership. During his visits, Türkiye expanded its diplomatic and development presence, including the opening of its new embassy complex in Mogadishu, marking the country’s largest embassy complex in the world.
Security and defence have since become central pillars of the relationship.
Türkiye established the TURKSOM military training academy in Mogadishu, where Somali security personnel have received training as part of efforts to strengthen the country’s national security institutions.
The partnership has more recently expanded into the energy sector. In April 2026, Türkiye’s deep-sea drilling vessel Cagri Bey arrived in Mogadishu after sailing from Taşucu Port in Mersin, marking Türkiye’s first overseas deep-sea drilling operation. The vessel’s arrival opened a new phase in cooperation over Somalia’s offshore oil and gas potential, following agreements granting Türkiye’s state-owned Turkish Petroleum Corporation rights to explore designated offshore blocks.
Turkish seismic research vessel Oruç Reis had earlier conducted surveys off Somalia’s coast to identify potential oil and gas deposits.
A strategic partnership
Somali officials at Wednesday’s ceremony portrayed the relationship as having evolved from humanitarian assistance into a broad strategic partnership.
Somalia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Abdisalam Abdi Ali, described the 15-year milestone as an occasion worth commemorating and expressed hope that cooperation would deepen further.
“Fifteen years is an important milestone that deserves to be commemorated,” Abdi Ali said. “We hope that during the next fifteen years, our relationship, our development, and the strategic partnership between us will reach a level even greater than where we are today, God willing.”
He highlighted Türkiye’s role in Somalia’s healthcare system, saying the Recep Tayyip Erdogan Hospital in Mogadishu receives about 40,000 patients each month. “Forty thousand. That is not a small number,” Abdisalam said, adding that the figure amounted to roughly 1,500 to 1,800 patients being treated at the hospital each day.He also credited Türkiye with supporting Somalia’s reconstruction, including infrastructure, trade, healthcare and the rebuilding of the Somali National Army.
Somalia’s Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs, Hassan Moalim Mohamud Sheikh Ali, said Türkiye’s decision to engage with Somalia at a time when much of the international community viewed the country primarily through the lens of insecurity helped restore hope and confidence in the country.
“What distinguishes this relationship from others is that Türkiye was willing to come closer to our country and face the risks at a time when everyone else was saying, ‘Somalia is a dangerous place; we should simply protect ourselves from that danger and try to contain it there.’ Türkiye opened the door to the idea that Somalia has hope, that Somalia can be engaged with, and that it is possible to establish a government-to-government partnership based on respect and brotherhood,” Sheikh Ali said.
He said he was serving in the Somali government at the time and witnessed the transformation firsthand. Türkiye, he added, became both a partner and a model for Somalia’s efforts to rebuild its institutions.
“Türkiye is a modern and modernly structured state. At that time, Somalia needed what we might call a ‘big brother’, someone who could take us by the hand, and we found one in Türkiye. Somalia also needed a role model, a country it could look to and learn from in terms of governance and nation-building, and we found that as well,” he said.
Sheikh Ali said the partnership also reflected Somalia’s commitment to strengthening relations between states on the basis of mutual respect and solidarity.
“This is also consistent with what our government stands for today: improving relations between states, building those relations on respect and brotherhood, protecting constitutional order, and upholding both international law and the international system,” he said.
Somalia’s Speaker of the House of the People, Abdulkadir Mohamed Nur, said the partnership had produced “remarkable results in a very short period of time” and pledged to continue strengthening relations with Türkiye in his current role.
He credited Erdogan and successive Somali leaders for developing what he described as a strategic relationship that now encompasses defence, economic affairs, intelligence and diplomacy.
Nur also recalled Somali public support for Türkiye during the failed coup attempt in 2016.
“The Somali people did not sleep at night; during the day, they stood in the streets in support of the Turkish government,” he said. “That shows that the Somali people wholeheartedly support the friendship and brotherhood between Somalia and Türkiye.”
He congratulated both countries on the 15th anniversary of Erdogan’s visit, saying it marked the renewal of diplomatic relations between the two countries.
From humanitarian aid to security and energy
The partnership has also reached Somalia’s correctional system. Major General Mohamed Sheikh Hasan Hamud, the commander of the Somali Custodial Corps, said Türkiye had supported the development of Somalia’s prison services, including assistance for correctional officers, prisoners and orphans.
He thanked the Turkish government, the Turkish Red Crescent, the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TİKA) and the Turkish Embassy for their support.
“TİKA has also supported us in establishing facilities and workshops for the custodial forces and prisoners,” Hamud said, adding that vocational training had been provided, particularly for women prisoners.
He said a vocational workshop had been reopened and was operating, while work had also progressed on a pasta production facility that could help meet the needs of prisoners and correctional officers and, if expanded, potentially supply the domestic market.
Hamud said the relationship now extended across security, defence, trade, oil and education, noting that thousands of Somali students had graduated from schools and universities in Türkiye.
Ambassador Aktas said the scope of the relationship now extended well beyond the humanitarian mobilisation of 2011.
“Today, Türkiye-Somalia relations have gone far beyond the humanitarian solidarity mobilisation of 2011,” he said. “Our relations have evolved into a strategic partnership spanning a wide range of areas, including diplomacy, security, defence, education, healthcare, energy, transportation, fisheries, maritime affairs, trade and development.”
He said Ankara continued to support Somalia’s sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity and insisted that the country’s future should be determined by Somalis and through Somalia’s constitutional institutions.
“As it has done in the past, Türkiye continues to strongly support Somalia’s sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity,” Aktas said. “We believe that decisions concerning Somalia’s future must be made by the Somali people and through Somalia’s constitutional institutions.”
The ambassador also emphasised that Somalia’s progress over the past 15 years belonged primarily to the Somali people themselves. “The Somali people themselves are the true owners of the progress Somalia has achieved over the past 15 years. They have made enormous sacrifices,” Aktas said.
“Türkiye is not acting to make decisions on behalf of Somalia or to shape Somalia’s future from outside. We are acting to support the will expressed by the Somali people, strengthen the capacity of national institutions and contribute to Somalia building its future on its own capabilities.”
Aktas said the security and prosperity of the two countries were increasingly interconnected.
“Somalia’s security cannot be separated from Türkiye’s security, just as Somalia’s prosperity cannot be separated from Türkiye’s prosperity,” he said. “We believe that lasting peace and stability in Somalia will benefit not only the Somali people, but also the Horn of Africa, the Red Sea region and the wider surrounding geography.”
Education has become another major link between the two countries. Thousands of Somalis who studied in Türkiye have returned to take positions in government institutions, Parliament, universities, businesses and civil society.
Aktas described Turkish-educated Somalis as “living bridges of friendship” between the two countries, saying they had helped bring their societies, languages and cultures closer together.
The ambassador said Ankara wanted the next phase of the relationship to move from humanitarian assistance toward sustainable development, joint production, greater trade and cooperation in technology and energy.
“Türkiye regards Somalia as an important partner with enormous development potential, given its young population, entrepreneurial spirit, strategic location, long coastline and abundant natural resources,” he said.
Aktas added that Türkiye would continue to stand alongside Somalia as it seeks to strengthen its institutions, develop its economy and overcome insecurity.
“We believe that the next 15 years will be a period in which Somalia transforms its own resources into prosperity for its people, further strengthens its institutions, completely emerges from the shadow of terrorism, and becomes a centre of peace, stability and development in its region,” he said.
“Türkiye will continue, as it always has, to walk alongside the Somali people on this journey.”
