Relations between Türkiye and Somalia moved beyond humanitarian aid after President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s visit to Mogadishu on August 19, 2011, developing into a structure based on institutional cooperation in public services, security, diplomacy and the economy.
The year 2026, which marks the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries at ambassadorial level, represents an important milestone for assessing the development of bilateral cooperation over the past 15 years. During this period, Türkiye’s engagement in Somalia took on a multilayered character, extending from emergency humanitarian intervention to strengthening the capacity of public institutions and establishing sectoral partnerships.
Historical ties laid the groundwork for diplomatic continuity
Somalia stands out as a historical crossroads in the networks of trade, pilgrimage and political interaction between the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean. The routes around the ports of Zeila and Berbera enabled political, economic and social contacts between the Ottoman world and the Horn of Africa during different periods.
Türkiye and Somalia established relations at ambassadorial level on February 9, 1966. Türkiye’s Embassy in Mogadishu began operating in 1979, while activities suspended in 1991 because of the civil war resumed on November 1, 2011.
Aid evolved into cooperation that strengthened public capacity
After 2011, food, shelter and health assistance was supplemented by air transport, hospital services, education programs, public administration support and the training of security personnel. Humanitarian aid thus became part of sustained cooperation between institutions in the two countries.
Turkish Airlines began flights to Mogadishu in 2012. The Mogadishu Somalia–Türkiye Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Education and Research Hospital brought health services and professional capacity-building together within the same institutional structure. Scholarships also supported the development of human resources for public administration, healthcare, academia and the private sector.
As part of security cooperation, the Turkish Task Force Command in Somalia began operating in 2017. The structure aimed to provide ongoing training for Somali security personnel and institutionalize advisory services within a continuous training system.
Under the 2024 Framework Agreement on Defense and Economic Cooperation, cooperation expanded to protecting the coastline, developing naval capacity, and combating piracy and illegal fishing. The approach treated security as an issue of state capacity linked to access to public services and the sustainability of economic activity.
Somalia’s recovery advanced with multilateral support
Somalia reached the completion point in 2023 under the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Initiative and benefited from $4.5 billion in debt relief. The development reflected the way Somalia’s years of financial and administrative reforms produced results within a multilateral institutional framework.
The contributions of Somali society and its diaspora also formed part of the social foundations of the country’s economic and institutional recovery. Türkiye’s role took shape through an institutional partnership supporting capacity-building, rather than an aid relationship that excluded Somali authorities, society and local actors.
The Ankara process moved into regional diplomacy
Maritime trade, ports, energy routes and fishing connect the countries of the Horn of Africa. Somalia’s capacity to protect its sovereignty, internal security and maritime jurisdictions is of regional importance for the continuity of trade flows and maritime security.
The memorandum signed between Ethiopia and the Somaliland administration on January 1, 2024, brought Ethiopia’s search for access to the sea and Somalia’s concerns over sovereignty and territorial integrity into the same area of tension. In the Ankara Declaration dated December 11, 2024, the parties reaffirmed their respect for sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity.
The Ankara Declaration created a basis for negotiations on Ethiopia’s expectation of access to the sea through commercial arrangements under Somalia’s sovereign authority. The first technical meeting was held on February 18, 2025, bringing the political framework into the implementation agenda.
Energy cooperation opened a new field
The economic dimension of the partnership between Türkiye and Somalia also expanded through work on offshore resources and energy. The seismic surveys completed by Oruç Reis and Çağrı Bey’s drilling operations at the Curad-1 well broadened the technical scope of energy cooperation.
The picture that has taken shape over the past 15 years shows that historical ties provided diplomatic continuity, while humanitarian diplomacy gained institutional depth in health, education, transport and security. Mutual interdependence in the Horn of Africa added a regional and strategic dimension to bilateral relations.
In the coming period, support for local employment, expanded technical knowledge-sharing, strengthened regulatory capacity and the wider distribution of social benefits are among the leading areas of cooperation.
