A direct hit on Turkey: Israel’s dramatic move against Erdogan

The announcement by the Prime Minister’s Office on Friday to recognize Somaliland as an independent country comes at the height of the escalating conflict between Israel and Turkey. Israel’s fight against Turkish expansion in the region – which began even more strongly after the revolution in Syria, and later in the face of Turkey’s efforts to gain a foothold and influence in the Gaza Strip – now enters another arena: Somalia and Somaliland.

In recent years, Turkey has become the most important political partner of Somalia, which strongly opposes Israel’s move to recognize Somaliland, an official territory of its territory, as an independent state. Hassan Sheikh Mahmoud, the president of Somalia, attacked Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu in the last day, saying that he “committed the most serious violation of Somalia’s sovereignty”.

Turkey’s involvement in Somalia over the past ten years spans a long list of fields, especially in the fields of security and economy. Turkey operates a base in Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia Camp Turksomthe largest of the Turkish security forces outside of Turkey.

At this base, which was established with a Turkish investment of tens of millions of dollars in 2017, the Turkish army trains officers and Somali fighting forces. It is estimated that to date, about 15,000 Somali soldiers and officers have been trained at the base. Among other things, the base helps the war of the local security forces against the terrorist organization al-Shabaab, an affiliate of al-Qaeda.

Last year, Ankara and Mogadishu signed a ten-year defense agreement, which includes cooperation in the war on terrorism, joint training on land in the air and at sea, and the establishment of an array of Somali naval capabilities under the guidance of Turkey. The agreement includes the deployment of Turkish soldiers in the country, the supply of armored weapons, weapons, unmanned aircraft of the “Bayraktar” model, and more.

The agreement stipulated that Turkey would assist Somalia in protecting its territorial waters, partly against the background of the escalation of tensions between Ethiopia and Somalia in recent years. In addition, Turkey announced that it would sell military vessels to Somalia, and thus Erdogan actually secured for himself important control over the Gulf of Aden region in the Horn of Africa.

Since 2011, Turkish companies have invested heavily in infrastructure in Somalia, including the construction and renovation of roads, schools, hospitals and government buildings. Turkey maintains one of the largest embassies in Somalia in Mogadishu, against the background of Erdogan’s long-term investment to gain control over large areas and become de facto the “protector of the Islamic world”.

Turkish companies manage key assets in the country such as the international airport and seaport in Mogadishu, with Ankara also having extensive influence on Somalia’s trade sector.

Turkey also invests extensively in the energy sector in Somalia. The Turkish state oil company signed agreements for oil and gas exploration in three offshore segments of 5,000 square kilometers each near the coast of Somalia, as well as in its land area. Turkey intends to start actual offshore drilling in 2026.

Last week, Erdogan sent a direct and explicit message to Netanyahu, a day after the Prime Minister hosted a joint summit in Jerusalem with the Prime Minister of Greece and the President of Cyprus, two of Turkey’s main regional rivals. “We will not allow our rights to be trampled on – not in the Eastern Mediterranean, not in the Aegean Sea and not anywhere else. Those whose hands have shed the blood of more than 70,000 Palestinians are no different than tin cans, nor will we allow the rights or interests of the Turkish Cypriots to be harmed.”

According to a series of reports, the relations between Israel and Somaliland extend over a considerable period of time, and now they are being publicly accepted – with Israel becoming the only member of the United Nations that officially recognizes the independence of Somaliland. President Trump made it clear that the US is not expected to recognize the independence of Somaliland, while the US military is working intensively alongside the Somali government in the war against ISIS.

After Syria and the Gaza Strip, it seems that the tense conflict between Israel and Turkey is taking a turn in another arena, which in recent years has become one of the most important in the world. With the expansion of the fight against the Houthis in Yemen, the continuation of the dialogue with Saudi Arabia regarding normalization, as well as the naval presence of European countries, the US military in Somalia, the Chinese military in Djibouti, and Russian military forces operating in the area – Israel also seeks a foothold in the region.