Somalia President Hassan Sheikh Mohamoud has appointed one of his close aides as Somali ambassador to Turkey.
Abdullahi Mohamed Ali, who is well known as Sambalolshe, a former Chief of the Somali Intelligence agency, presented his credentials to the Turkish President Recep Tayyib Erdogan on Monday following a ceremony held in the Ankara Presidential Palace.
Mr Sambalolshe was sacked as the Head of Intelligence agency last year by the Federal cabinet after he was accused of misusing his powers. He was also named as the Somali ambassador to the United Kingdom.
Turkey’s rapprochement with Somalia formally began with the Istanbul Conference on Somalia during May 21-23, 2010 as part of Djibouti Agreement and long political transition process started in 2004.
The real turning point of Turkish commitment towards Somalia was the Erdogan’s visit during the holy month of Ramadan in the summer of 2011. The visit coincided with the opening of an humanitarian aid privileged channel towards Somali people hard hit by civil war and long famine crisis. Erdoğan was the first non-African leader to visit Somalia in nearly two decades.
However, in the past four years, Turkey has proved that pure human capital can be a better policy instrument than lending programs, aid donations, business deals, and diplomatic summits.
Horseed Media
Somalia President appoints close aide ambassador to Turkey
Published: September 16, 2015
