Somalia approved, this Wednesday, an economic and defense cooperation agreement with Turkey, which envisages sending Turkish naval forces to defend the waters of the African country for ten years, announced the Somali Government.”Today, the Government approved the economic and defense cooperation agreement between our country and the Government of our brothers in Turkey”, declared the Prime Minister, Hamza Abdi Barre, on the network social network The Somali parliament, with 213 votes in favor, approved the pact under which Turkey will receive 30 percent of the revenues from the country’s marine economic zone and commits to rebuilding and equipping the Somali navy. Somali authorities stressed that the agreement represents a step forward in safeguarding sovereignty. “On an important occasion, the Council of Ministers approved a defense partnership pact between Somalia and the esteemed Republic of Turkey, a NATO member and close ally”, declared the Minister of Information, Culture and Somalia Tourism, Daud Aweis, on social media. “This historic 10-year pact will significantly strengthen the Government’s efforts to safeguard its sovereignty,” Aweis stressed. Turkey is an important ally that has supported Somalia in sectors such as education, infrastructure and health, in addition to providing humanitarian and military aid. The pact comes at a time when there is an escalation of diplomatic tensions with Ethiopia. Tensions began on January 1, when authorities Ethiopians and Somaliland, a self-proclaimed independent Somali region, signed a memorandum of understanding to guarantee Ethiopia’s access to the Red Sea. The pact would allow Addis Ababa to obtain a permanent naval base and commercial maritime service in the Gulf of Aden through an agreement to lease 20 kilometers of coastline for 50 years. In return, according to Somaliland’s leader, Muse Bihi Abdi, Ethiopia would internationally recognize the territory as an independent country, although Addis Ababa has stated that it has not yet evaluated this request. Somalia, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, considered the pact illegal and annulled it. Somaliland is not internationally recognized, although it has its own constitution, currency, Government and economic development and political stability with better indicators than those of Somalia. The region declared the its separation from Somalia, a former Italian colony, in 1991, when Somali president Mohamed Siad Barré was overthrown. (RM /NMinuto)Source:Rádio Moçambique Online
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