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Red Sea politics: why Turkey is helping Somalia defend its waters

Red Sea politics: why Turkey is helping Somalia defend its waters

SOMALIA and Turkey recently announced that they would expand the terms of a defence agreement first signed on 8 February 2024 to include the maritime sector. This came as tensions rose between Somalia and landlocked Ethiopia. Ethiopia is seeking access to the Red Sea through Somaliland, a breakaway state of Somalia. Federico Donelli, an international relations professor whose research covers Red Sea security and politics, puts this defence agreement into context. FEDERICO DONELLI, Assistant Professor of International Relations, University of Trieste What’s the scope of the relationship between Turkey and Somalia? Turkey’s entry into Somalia in 2011 started out as…
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Turkey says Somalia leader’s son to participate in fatal car accident trial

Turkey says Somalia leader’s son to participate in fatal car accident trial

TURKISH Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc said that he expected the son of Somalia's president to return to Turkey in the coming days to participate in a court case over a fatal car accident involving his use of a diplomatic car. Mohamed Hassan Sheikh Mahmoud was driving a Somali consulate car on November 30 when he hit a motorcycle courier in central Istanbul, seriously injuring him. He left the country on December 2, following a police interrogation. An arrest warrant was issued for him after the courier died in hospital on December 6. Tunc told reporters in Ankara that he discussed the incident…
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Turkey queries Somalia over role of president’s son in fatal accident

Turkey queries Somalia over role of president’s son in fatal accident

TURKEY is seeking an explanation from Somalia after the son of its president, Hassan Sheikh Mahmoud, left the country following a fatal traffic accident involving his use of a diplomatic car, according to a Turkish official. The son, Mohamed Hassan Sheikh Mahmoud, was driving a vehicle belonging to the Somali consulate on November 30, when he hit a motorcycle courier in central Istanbul, seriously injuring him, Turkish media have said. He was using a car carrying a diplomatic licence plate at the time of the accident, said the Turkish official, who spoke on condition of anonymity as the investigation is…
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Turkey sends two more planes of aid to Egypt for Gaza, plans more

Turkey sends two more planes of aid to Egypt for Gaza, plans more

TURKEY sent two cargo planes to Egypt carrying medical equipment and supplies for Gaza, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said, adding two more aircraft would be sent with more supplies. Earlier this month, Turkey sent three aircraft carrying aid for Gaza. On Sunday, it also sent a medical team and supplies to Egypt, saying Ankara was ready to treat wounded Palestinians in Turkey if needed and to set up a field hospital at Egypt's El Arish Airport and Rafah border crossing. In a post on X, formerly Twitter, Koca said the cargo planes carried medicine, generators, medical supplies, incubators for babies, phototherapy machinery, diapers and…
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Syrians feel growing pressure from Turkey’s anti-migrant political wave

Syrians feel growing pressure from Turkey’s anti-migrant political wave

ANTI-MIGRANT sentiment, economic woes and political pressures are leading some of the 3.3 million Syrians living in Turkey to plan a return to Syria or seek shelter in Europe, according to migrants interviewed by Reuters. They are concerned that rhetoric against migrants may rear up in campaigning for March local elections, echoing efforts to tap into nationalist sentiments during May's general elections. Many of those now living in Istanbul face a more immediate worry - authorities' September 24 deadline for them to leave the city if they are registered in other Turkish provinces. One 32-year-old Syrian said he is saving…
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Russian, Turkish ministers talk after Turkey sends Ukrainian commanders home

Russian, Turkish ministers talk after Turkey sends Ukrainian commanders home

THE foreign ministers of Russia and Turkey spoke by telephone, a day after Ankara angered Moscow by sending five Ukrainian commanders home with President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in what Russia called a violation of a prisoner exchange agreement. The Russian and Turkish foreign ministries said Sergei Lavrov and Hakan Fidan discussed the situation in Ukraine, as well as a Black Sea grain export agreement that lifted a Russian de facto blockade of Ukrainian ports last year. Moscow has threatened to quit the grain export deal when it comes up for renewal on July 17, saying demands to facilitate sales of its…
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Turkey votes in election runoff, Erdogan well placed to sustain rule

Turkey votes in election runoff, Erdogan well placed to sustain rule

ECE TOKSABAY and CAN SEZER TURKS voted in a presidential runoff that could see Tayyip Erdogan extend his rule into a third decade and persist with Turkey's increasingly authoritarian path, muscular foreign policy and unorthodox economic governance. Erdogan, 69, defied opinion polls and came out ahead with an almost five-point lead over his rival Kemal Kilicdaroglu in the first round on May 14. But he fell just short of the 50% needed to avoid a runoff, in a race with profound consequences for Turkey and global geopolitics. His unexpectedly strong showing amid a deep cost of living crisis, and a win in parliamentary elections for…
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South Africa grants Turkey’s Karpowership deal to ease power crisis

South Africa grants Turkey’s Karpowership deal to ease power crisis

SOUTH Africa has granted Turkey's Karpowership access to the three ports of Ngqura, Durban and Saldanha Bay for a period of 20 years, the transport ministry said, as it tries to find solutions to the country's power crisis. Karpowership aims to generate power on its floating gas ships and distribute it through South Africa's electricity grid. The plan received a boost from President Cyril Ramaphosa last week after he told lawmakers the ships would help ease the prolonged power shortage countrywide. Karpowership has in the past faced numerous challenges from environmental activists and small-scale fishermen since the South African government…
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Turkey faces election runoff, Erdogan seen with momentum

Turkey faces election runoff, Erdogan seen with momentum

PRESIDENT Tayyip Erdogan led comfortably after the first round of Turkey's presidential election, with his rival facing an uphill struggle to prevent the president from extending his rule into a third decade in a runoff vote on May 28. Turkish assets weakened on the news, which showed Erdogan only just below the 50% threshold needed to avoid sending the NATO-member country to a second round of a presidential election viewed as passing judgment on his autocratic rule. Erdogan's People's Alliance, comprising his Islamist-rooted AK Party and its nationalist partners, also appeared set to win a majority in Turkey's new parliament with 321 of the…
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Erdogan’s election rival in Turkey says ‘we are leading’

Erdogan’s election rival in Turkey says ‘we are leading’

TURKEY'S opposition leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu said he was leading against President Tayyip Erdogan in Sunday's presidential elections despite state media putting Erdogan ahead in early results. Citing manipulation in the reporting of early results in previous elections, Istanbul's opposition mayor Ekrem Imamoglu said on TV that no one should heed early results shared by the state-owned Anadolu Agency. Early results from Anadolu broadcast by Turkish media showed President Tayyip Erdogan ahead with 52.55% of votes compared to Kilicdaroglu with 41.55%, although the gap was narrowing as the count continued. "We are leading," Kilicdaroglu said on Twitter. “We can say this…
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