‘Turkey is country who helps Somalia the most’- Somali Interior Minister

Mogadishu, July 14, 2013 (SDN) —Interior Minister of Somalia Abdikarim Hussein  Guled has said Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan conquered bothSomalia and its people with his official visit to the country which opened the way for the humanitarian aid to reach the needy people.  “We call Erdogan ‘conqueror of Somalia’. He has conquered both Somalia and its people,” said the Somali interior minister speaking to Anadolu Agency over Turkey-Somalia relations as well as the recent developments in Egypt.

Pointing out that Erdogan’s visit to the country was a milestone in the history of Somalia, Guled stated that the grinding poverty which killed almost 100 people daily until 2 years before, was alleviated with the aid supplied by countries including Turkey.

“Turkey is the country who helps Somalia the most,” he said stressing the aids showed the strong friendship between two countries.

Guled evaluated on the recent developments in Egypt and said things happening in the country was getting more worrying each day.

“We support democracy, the will of Egyptian people, and the peaceful ways and stand against the military coups refusing chaos,” said Guled, “We expect that Egypt would return to a democratic and legal government.”

He reminded about some agreements between Turkey and Somalia on security issues and said Turkey would train 500 Somali army officers soon.  “That will be a key point for the security in Somalia to increase.”

Security problems in Somalia decreased when compared to before, he said adding his country got stronger each day.

Somali minister said African Union forces would withdraw from the country handing over the control to Somali forces.

Touching on the ‘determined’ struggle with  Al Shabaab, militant group that controls most of southern and central Somalia, Guled added that the authority gap in some regions caused by Al Shabaab were bridged, reducing the security risks across the country.

SDN Mogadishu