This week the Turkish government offered Somalia a $ 30 million financial grant, which angered opposition parties to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in coinciding with the country’s continuing economic crisis, in addition to the problem of the Turkish lira, that is in drop in value against foreign currencies for years Fires and floods faced by local authorities.
Ankara announced an international agreement with Somalia, to grant a questlast $ 30 million in a deal that did not disclose all of its terms, according to the Official Gazette of Turkey, which revealed that the agreement was concluded between the Turkish Ministry of Finance, the Turkish Treasury and the Somali Ministry of Finance, but the parties of opposition linked them last year.
Berat Albayrak with the Turkish president
This grant is the second of its kind: last year Ankara awarded Somalia a grant of the same value, which is $ 30 million, a month after the Al-Bairaq Group announced it was obtaining a grant to manage. of the port of Nouakchott, but this time Ankara did not disclose the reason for the subsidy, which prompted opposition to the government’s accusation of having provided the latest subsidy in change of the continuation of the management of the port of Nouakchott by the group “Al-Bairaq”.
The Official Gazette of Turkey stated that Ankara will provide a monthly amount of $ 2.5 million to Somalia, where it had previously established a military base, provided that the total grant value does not exceed $ 30 million, to be used. to develop the efficiency of Somali institutions, without giving further details.
The Republican People’s Party, which is the main opposition party in the country, criticized the subsidy given to Nouakchott, which Turkey seeks to increase its influence on its territory, stating that “the priority in this time is buying firefighting equipment to deal with continuing fires in some areas “, according to a statement. Lefaik Oztrak, spokesman for the party led by Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu.
From forest fires in Turkey
Oztrak also claimed that “those who can’t find $ 4 million to buy firefighting planes have decided to send $ 30 million in Somalia!”
Turkey already has firefighting planes, but all are “disabled” and need between $ 4 and $ 5 million to repair and re-equip them, according to statements by Turkish Aviation Association officials who spoke to media locals.
The departure of Turkish firefighters’ planes has also angered the opposition parties, especially as the Turkish president announced last month the allocation of $ 14 million to build a presidential palace, parliament and park in the city. Northern part of the island of Cyprus, where the Turkish army has been present since 1974, regardless of such issues, problems such as the deactivation of firefighting aircraft.
The “Al-Bairaq” group, owned by the family of the Turkish president’s son-in-law in previously he was Minister of Finance and the Turkish Treasury, managing the port of Nouakchott since 2014, but Ankara officially announced this last year after an agreement between it and the Somali Ministry of Ports and Maritime Transport.
By: asumetech
Muqdisho-Somalia
