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Saturday, August 17, 2024
HARGEISA (HOL) — Somaliland President Muse Bihi Abdi has criticized the Turkish government for supporting Somalia, saying it has failed to mediate unification talks between Somalia and Somaliland.
Speaking in Hargeisa on Saturday, Bihi expressed concern about Egypt’s possible deployment of troops to Somalia, warning that the move could exacerbate the existing conflict.
“Why should Turkey stand with Somalia? Because it sees the interests of its own country. When Turkey flirted with Somaliland, it missed everything except Somaliland’s independence and tried to get us back to Mogadishu,” Bihi said.
He also expressed surprise at UN support for sending new troops to Somalia, suggesting donor governments are growing tired of keeping the peace in the region.
Faisal Ali Warabe, chairman of the Somaliland opposition United Anti-Terrorism Alliance, also criticized the Somalia-Egypt military agreement, warning that it could destabilize Somalia, similar to the situation in Sudan. He predicted that the agreement could lead to a conflict between Egypt- and Ethiopia-backed forces in Somalia.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamed signed an Egypt-Somalia defense agreement after bilateral talks aimed at strengthening security cooperation. Egypt has expressed its willingness to support the African Union to send a new peacekeeping force to replace the existing troops in Somalia.
According to data from Egypt’s Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS), Egypt’s exports to Somalia increased to $54 million in the first 11 months of 2023, compared with $42.3 million in the same period of 2022, an increase of 27.7%, while Somalia’s exports to Egypt remained stable at $2.2 million.
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