TURKEY’S INVOLVEMENT IN SOMALIA ASSESSMENT OF A STATE-BUILDING IN PROGRESS
Mehmet Özkan
Researcher at SETA Foundation for Political, Economic and
Social Research in Ankara, Turkey; and Director of The International Center for Terrorism
and Transnational Crime (UTSAM) at Turkish Police Academy in Ankara, Turkey.
Turkey’s involvement in Somalia and its success, so far, is a novelty in Turkish foreign policy. Turkey’s efforts in Somalia are significant for a number of reasons. First, they have played a role in Somalia’s return to the international forum. Second, Ankara’s policy in Somalia has had a positive spill over effect back in Turkey by immensely contributing to Turkey’s domestic institutions.
What was considered a purely humanitarian initiative when Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan visited Somalia on 19 August 2011 has now turned out to be a comprehensive Somalia and Eastern Africa policy for Turkey. This, in itself, has important repercussions for Turkey’s opening to Africa and beyond.
Turkey’s Somalia policy is the best current example of inter-agency coordination within the context of Turkey’s foreign policy. Through this experience, Turkish policy makers have learned that regularly held coordination meetings are not enough. A maximized level of coordination and a well-planned vision are essential requirements to a successful enterprise. In addition, coordination meetings on Somalia had to go beyond being a purely check-list mechanism of what has been done. A genuine discussion for creating a sustainable political vision had to be developed.
The need for a clear political vision and plan stems from the reality that Turkey’s Somalia policy is no longer simply an effort to coordinate technical and humanitarian aid. In this context, for the first time in Turkish foreign policy, appointing a special Somali representative is crucial.
Furthermore, an assessment should be made on the political developments occurring in, and surroundings
of, Somalia, monitored and analyzed daily to improve on the decision-making process in Ankara. Thus, this situation underscores the imperative for a special representative with a political mission to be appointed.
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