Somaliland President warns against Egyptian troop deployment, criticizes Turkish mediation efforts

Somaliland President warns against Egyptian troop deployment, criticizes Turkish mediation efforts

Source: Hiiaan Online, Saturday August 17, 2024

Hargeisa (HOL) — Somaliland President Muse Bihi Abdi has criticized the Turkish government for supporting Somalia after what he described as its failure to mediate reunification talks between Somalia and Somaliland.

Speaking in Hargeisa on Saturday, Bihi voiced concerns over the potential deployment of Egyptian troops to Somalia, warning that such a move could escalate existing conflicts.

“Why is Turkey fighting to stand by Somalia? It sees the interests of its country. When it was flirting with Somaliland, it missed everything but the independence of Somaliland and sought to return us to Mogadishu,” Bihi said.

He also expressed surprise at the United Nations’ support for deploying new troops to Somalia, suggesting that donor governments are growing weary of maintaining peace in the region.

Faisal Ali Warabe, chairman of Somaliland’s opposition party UCID, also criticized the Somalia-Egypt military pact, warning that it could destabilize Somalia, similar to the situation in Sudan. He predicted that the agreement could lead to conflict between forces supported by Egypt and Ethiopia within Somalia.

The defense pact between Egypt and Somalia, signed after bilateral talks between Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi and Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, aims to bolster security cooperation. Egypt has offered to support a new African Union peacekeeping mission to replace the current force in Somalia.

The value of Egyptian exports to Somalia increased to $54 million in the first 11 months of 2023, compared to $42.3 million during the period in 2022, an increase of 27.7% as the value of Somalia exports to Egypt stabilized at $2.2 million, according to the Egyptian Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS).