ANKARA: Turkey opened its largest overseas military training camp on Saturday on a 400-hectare seafront site in Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia.
The $50 million camp, which has been under construction since March 2015, was inaugurated by Somali Prime Minister Hassan Ali Khaire and Gen. Hulusi Akar, Turkey’s military chief of staff. About 200 Turkish soldiers will train 10,000 troops from the Somali Army, in squads of 1,500 at a time.
“Somalia needs the help of professional trainers such as Turkey’s, and there is a close relationship between the two countries, so this could be hugely beneficial to Somalia and a morale booster for the Somali people,” Abdirashid Hashi, director of the Heritage Institute for Policy Studies in Mogadishu, told Arab News. “It also strengthens the Turkish government’s presence and influence in Somalia.”
Ibrahim Nassir, an Africa expert at ANKASAM, a think tank in Ankara, said the camp was a concrete reflection of Turkey’s historical responsibilities in the region since Ottoman times. “The insecurity of Somalia has a spill-over effect on the general instability in the region. Therefore, with the restructuring of the Somali National Army, Turkey will contribute to the regional security,” he said.
“I don’t see any security risk for Turkish military officers who will be stationed there. Security conditions have improved in the capital, and Turkey also has a good image there. It has constantly been offering help in capacity building, and does not have a colonialist footstep in the country.”
Turkey also has experience in providing military training to officers of some African Union countries, including Somalia, in their fight against the terrorist group Al-Shabab.
Nassir also underlined the long experience of the Turkish military in counter-terrorism efforts against the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and Daesh.
Pinar Akpinar, a scholar at the Conflict Resolution and Mediation Stream of the Istanbul Policy Center, said establishing a military camp in Somalia was a way for Turkey to secure a long-term role thereby balancing soft and hard power capabilities, and was part of a broader policy of establishing a military stronghold in the Gulf of Aden.
“This is a trend among regional powers due to the diminishing US interest in the region and their aspirations to increase their leverage in the region by undertaking security provider roles,” she told Arab News.
However, the training camp was not without its risks, she said. “Somalia is a post-conflict country that still faces problems with Al-Shabab, and regional authorities such as Somaliland that are seeking their independence from Somalia, or with neighbors such as Ethiopia or Eritrea. They could see a militarily stronger Somali government as a threat.”
Turkey opens $50m training camp for Somali Army
Turkey opens $50m training camp for Somali Army
Israeli settlers burn tents, vehicles in West Bank village
- Videos show masked men rampaging into the Palestinian village of Susiya near Hebron and burning vehicles and property
- Similar attacks have become common as settlers seek to control large swathes of land in the West Bank
SUSIYA, West Bank: Israeli settlers set fire to vehicles and tents in the Palestinian village of Susiya on Tuesday night, residents said, in the latest incident of settler violence against Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
Videos verified by Reuters showed a masked group of men, who residents said were Israeli settlers, approaching the village near the city of Hebron, and later burning vehicles and Palestinian property.
“They attack us almost every day, repeatedly, because we live near the main road...Last night they burned everywhere,” Halima Abu Eid, a Susiya resident told Reuters on Wednesday.
The Israeli military said they had dispatched soldiers to deal with reports of “deliberate burnings of Palestinian property” and had opened an investigation into the incident.
Violence by Israeli settlers against Palestinians in the West Bank has increased sharply since the beginning of the war in Gaza in October 2023, with over 800 Palestinians displaced due to settler attacks in 2026 according to United Nations data.
Attacks where masked settlers arrive at night to destroy Palestinian property or attack residents have become common, as Israeli settlers seek to control large swathes of land in the West Bank.
An Israeli official previously blamed settler violence on a “fringe minority,” although Reuters reporting has shown well-organized plans to take Palestinian land in public settler social media channels.
The United Nations has documented at least 86 instances of settler violence from February 3 to 16, leading to the displacement of 146 Palestinians and the injury of 64.
Israeli indictments of settler violence are rare. At the end of 2025, Israeli monitoring group Yesh Din said of the hundreds of cases of settler violence it had documented since October 7, 2023, only 2 percent resulted in indictments. Israel’s far-right governing coalition has enabled the rapid spread of settlements, with some ministers openly stating they want to “bury” a Palestinian state.
Most world powers deem Israel’s settlements, on land it captured in a 1967 war, illegal, and numerous UN Security Council resolutions have called on Israel to halt all settlement activity.
Israel disputes the view that its settlements are unlawful and it cites biblical and historical ties to the land.
