Turkey has unveiled its biggest military base in Africa in a ceremony that was attended by top military officials from Turkey and Somalia.
CGTN’s Abdulaziz Billow tells us the importance of this new base.
The opening of what is Turkey’s biggest overseas military base cements its ties with the volatile but strategic Muslim nation and building a presence in East Africa.
According to a senior Turkish official said ahead of a ceremony in Mogadishu, more than 10,000 Somali soldiers will be trained by Turkish officers at the base.
The opening of the $50 million base signals ever-closer ties between Turkey and Somalia. Turkey’s relations with the Horn of Africa date back to the Ottoman Empire, but President Tayyip Erdogan’s government has become a close ally of the Somali government in recent years.
