Somali president flies to Turkey’s capital Ankara

[Deeq A.]

MOGADISHU, Somalia (Caasimada Online)—Somali President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo has departed from Djibouti to Turkey’s capital Ankara, after receiving an official invitation from his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

President Farmajo was invited by Turkish president Erdoğan to attend the AK party’s 6th Ordinary Congress that will be held on Saturday in Ankara capital.

The two presidents will discuss bilateral relations, cooperation on economy, security and promote trade and investment.

Somali president and other heads of states have been invited to attend congress of Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party in Ankara.

The close ties between Erdogan and Somalia’s leadership were also on display straight after a failed coup attempt in Turkey last year, blamed by Ankara on Fethullah Gulen, an exiled religious leader and businessman based in the US.

Turkey’s pivot towards Somalia was signalled in 2011 when President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who was a prime minister at the time, visited the Horn of Africa country at a time when Somalis were experiencing one of the worst famines of the region.

Caasimada Online

Mogadishu News Desk

Caasimada@live.com