Turkish, Somali presidents meet in Istanbul

By Berk Ozkan

ISTANBUL (AA) – Turkey’s president on Friday met with his Somali counterpart in Istanbul for talks, according to a statement from the Turkish presidency.

The closed-door meeting between Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Somalia’s Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed at Vahdettin Pavilion in the Uskudar district lasted for one hour and fifteen minutes, said the statement.

No further details of the meeting were provided.

Erdogan visited Somalia in 2016 and previously in 2011, when he was prime minister.

Since 2011, Turkey has provided over $500 million in aid to Somalia and helped the Somali people in such areas as education, health, roads, ports, airports, fisheries, and energy.

Last September, Turkey opened its largest overseas military training academy in the Somali capital Mogadishu.

It has the capacity to train more than 1,500 troops at a time, according to the Somali government.