Somaliland Says It ‘Vehemently Rejects Any Potential Deployment of Turkish Naval Forces’ within Its ‘Recognized Maritime Zones

In a statement released [yesterday], the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Somaliland said it “vehemently rejects any potential deployment of Turkish naval forces within Somaliland’s recognized maritime zones.” This comes in the backdrop of the recent announcement that Turkey was poised to send its navy support to Somali waters following an earlier agreement between Ankara and Mogadishu that will allow Turkey to send an exploration vessel off the coast of Somalia to prospect for oil and gas…In February this year, Turkey and Somalia signed a defense cooperation in the wake of Somalia’s rejection of the Memorandum of Understanding signed between Ethiopia and Somaliland earlier in January. (Addis Standard)