\n
<\/p>\n
MOGADISHU: Turkey has poured huge sums into making Somalia one of its main foreign outposts but is being sucked into the country\u2019s violent political battles, risking the goodwill it has built.<\/p>\n
Turkish F-16s fired missiles around Baidoa, a city in southern Somalia, on Monday as they helped federal troops fight off an attack by forces loyal to an ousted governor.<\/p>\n
Turkey was also accused of an airstrike on September 3 that injured opposition leader General Mahad Abdirahman in the southern town of Doolow, though the government claimed he was hurt by explosives \u201cbeing prepared inside the house\u201d.<\/p>\n
That incident sparked rare anti-Turkey protests in the region, with some burning its flag and desecrating images of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.<\/p>\n
\u201cTurkey is a new colonial power that is occupying Somalia and is killing Somali people,\u201d district commissioner Omar Abdullahi told a crowd of protesters in nearby Afmadow.<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom today onwards, are we not at war with Turkey?\u201d<\/p>\n
Huge investment<\/strong><\/p>\n While several Western countries have grown tired of funding a country in perpetual conflict, Turkey established its biggest overseas military base in Somalia.<\/p>\n It is also building a spaceport on the Somali coast dedicated to launches and satellite technologies, as well as exploring for oil.<\/p>\n The Turks have trained Somali troops, provided aid during droughts, floods and famines, and helped transform the capital, Mogadishu, with new roads and solar streetlights, while its companies run the city\u2019s airport and seaport.<\/p>\n Diplomats in Mogadishu jokingly complain of being awoken by the roar of the three Turkish F-16s.<\/p>\n Many Somalis are grateful \u2014 particularly as Washington has cut vital aid needed for the fight against the Al Qaeda-linked insurgent group, Al-Shabaab that controls swathes of the country.<\/p>\n But opposition parties say Turkish military training, vehicles, and drones \u2014 originally meant to battle Al-Shabaab \u2014 are being used against them and their militias, including during political clashes in Mogadishu in June.<\/p>\n Somalia is in a deep political crisis after President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud pushed through unpopular reforms that included extending his mandate for a year, and the opposition met with Turkish diplomats to warn against taking sides.<\/p>\n \u2018Perfect cooperation\u2019 <\/strong><\/p>\n Turkish construction work is pressing ahead regardless.<\/p>\n The first phase of the spaceport at Warsheikh, around about 70 kilometres (40 miles) north of Mogadishu, is due to be completed soon, a local official said on condition of anonymity.<\/p>\n Turkey is in Somalia for the long-term and its interests go far beyond the current government.<\/p>\n \u201cA succession of presidents and politicians has held office, and we have worked in perfect cooperation with these successive leaders,\u201d said a senior Turkish official working on the Somalia file.<\/p>\n \u201cAll political actors in Somalia know that Turkey\u2019s support is intended for the Somali people and for Somalia, not for any specific political line,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n This was supported by a Western diplomat based in Mogadishu.<\/p>\n \u201cTurkey is a highly sophisticated actor and will support whoever best secures those interests,\u201d he told AFP.<\/p>\n \u2018Disinformation\u2019 <\/strong><\/p>\n The Somali government says the opposition is using \u201cdisinformation\u201d to malign the relationship with Turkey.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was shameful to see the Turkish flag being burned on Somali soil,\u201d said parliament speaker Abdulkadir Mohamed Nur at an event to commemorate the partnership on September 9.<\/p>\n Somali MP Amina Mohamed Mursal told AFP that the Turks \u201care our brothers and sisters… They came to our aid during difficult times.\u201d<\/p>\n Some ordinary Somalis are still wary.<\/p>\n \u201cTurkey can no longer be seen as a neutral partner… Its backing of the federal government\u2019s leadership is deepening political divisions and fuelling our resentment,\u201d Mogadishu resident Dahir Ahmed told AFP.<\/p>\n \u201cMany people now openly criticise Turkey \u2014 a marked change from the widespread support it enjoyed when it first became involved in Somalia,\u201d added Shueyb Yare, a businessman from the diaspora.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n