...just another cheapjack Moslem dictatorship, brought to you by the Moslem Brüderbund...has been dragged into Somalia's internal politics, with opposition leader Abdirahman Abdishakur Warsame now claiming Ankara is directly responsible for problems bedeviling the Horn of Africa nation.
If Turkey were not there, it could not have been their fault. They are there, therefore it must be their fault — the same logic the Saudis use about foreigners in car accidents.
Turkey is a major development, financial, and security partner of Somalia, a relationship that has lasted for almost a decade, even as the country struggles to fight But it's the training of Haramcad police and the GorGor troops that has often caused rifts in the country, with the opposition accusing President Mohammed Abdullahi Farmajo of "misusing" the soldiers for political expediency. They are accused of targeting opposition leaders in the crackdown.
In Mogadishu, Turkey has one of the largest overseas military training schools, which targets recruitment and training of Gor Gor special forces. But Abdishakur believes Turkey uses the opportunity to train and provide weapons that are wrongly used.
Turkey must help Somalia responsibly. It is not acceptable to train and provide weapons to soldiers who contribute to the insecurity and repression of the opposition," he told Garowe Online during Twitter Space conversation, Saturday dubbed "Democratization and state-building".
Ankara has massively invested in Somalia in a move that has seen equal competition from Qatar
...an emirate on the east coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It sits on some really productive gas and oil deposits, which produces the highest per capita income in the world. They piss it all away on religion, financing the Moslem Brotherhood and several al-Qaeda affiliates. Home of nutbag holy manYusuf al-Qaradawi...
and United Arab Emirates [UAE]. Even in recent weeks, the
...... Somalia's version of the Taliban, functioning as an arm of al-Qaeda...
, which seeks to overthrow the fragile UN-backed Somalia administration.
While acknowledging Somalia's problems are enormous, Abdirahman Abdishakur however, blamed outgoing President Mohammed Abdullahi Farmajo for focusing on "non-issues" with an aim of protecting his stay in power albeit in short term.
"In any case, no president can solve Somalia's problems in four years, but he can work to make it better," he said, adding that: "Farmaajo wasted time in crushing his critics and the Federal States in Somalia, and that's is what kept him busy from the war on al-Shabaab."
For a long time, Farmajo has been accused of using security forces for his personal benefits. Ironically, in most of his speeches, the president has often asked security forces to adhere to their constitutional obligations in protecting the nation and its interests.
But Abdishakur suggests that "The power to appoint and replace heads of the security agencies in Somalia should not reside with the president." Across the world, security is a national government function.
"The goodness and strangeness of the army forces are not measured by the weapons and uniforms they carry, but by their independence from politics. The outgoing leaders used the SNA - Somali National Army for political purposes in Somalia," he added.
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Abdirahman Abdishakur Warsame: 2021-04-26 Fighting breaks out in Somalia's capital after president’s term extended
Abdirahman Abdishakur Warsame: 2012-07-20 Presidential candidate accuses President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed