Turkey has begun the construction of a factory in Somalia that will produce uniforms for the forces in the Horn of Africa nation. The construction of the factory will give Somalia the much-needed capability to adequate give uniforms to its military that has been lacking for the past two decades.
Previously, Somali Defence Minister Abdulkadir Sheikh Ali Dini laid the foundation stone for the factory in January 2016. Unfortunately, the construction did not commence as scheduled due to a myriad of reasons and as such stalling the much-needed project.
Somalia relies on imported uniforms to meet its military requirements, but al Shabaab militants have also been able to obtain the same uniforms, who have used them in attacks on government and military facilities.
Turkey provides a lot of assistance to Somalia and trains hundreds of students a year at a training base in the capital Mogadishu. Turkey opened the base in September 2017 as Turkey’s biggest overseas military base which was projected to train at least 10,000 Somali soldiers.
Moreover, Turkey is also providing Somalia with training support and equipment to establish the country’s navy and coastguard. Turkey has been a reliable partner to Somalia especially in terms of security and economic development as the East African nation rebuilds and fights both Al Qaeda and ISIS-linked terror organizations.
