Alwaght- Turkey has opened its largest overseas military base in conflict-ridden Somalia.
Somalia’s Prime Minister, Hassan Ali Khyare, was joined by the Turkish army chief, General Hulusi Akar and other top officials during the opening ceremony on Saturday in the country’s capital, Mogadishu.
"My government and our Somali people will not forget this huge help by our Turkish brothers. This academy will help us train more troops," Khaire said at the inauguration ceremony.
For his part, Hulusi Akar said the Turkish government would "continue to support our Somali brothers until their country becomes militarily stronger".
Located south of Mogadishu, the training facility had been under construction for the last two years.
The facility is spread over 4 square kilometers (1.54 square miles) and has the capacity to train more than 1,500 troops at a time, according to the Somali government.
Turkish President Erdogan last year opened the country’s new embassy in Mogadishu, the country’s largest diplomatic compound in the world.
The Horn of Africa region given its strategic location is a choice location for military bases by foreign powers. Neighboring Djibouti for instance hosts bases for China, France and Japan. Neighboring Eritrea also hosts military bases for the Israeli regime.
The Turkish military base which is touted as the biggest military base in the Horn of Africa was deployed to up to 200 military trainers who will reportedly take the training of the Somali soldiers.
Somalia was plunged into anarchy in the early 1990s following the toppling of military dictator Mohamed Siad Barre. Over the past decade, the country has been targeted by al-Qaeda and ISIS affiliated al-Shabab Takfiri terrorist group.
Al Shabab regularly carries out attacks in the country despites the presences of African Union Peace Keeping Mission, AMISOM, which is made up of about 22,000 military personnel from Uganda, Kenya, Ethiopia and other African countries to support Somalia’s government and army.
