Mogadishu (UM) – The Turkish Ambassador Olgan Bekar has not even left Somalia yet after the completion of his mission this week but he is probably already hoping he did. The reason is the Somali government through the Foreign Ministry released another damaging statement interfering in the dispute regarding the prosecution of the murderers of the Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi. The Somali government statement supported Saudi Arabia in its bid to prosecute the murderers in their jurisdiction whereas Turkey is adamant they must be extradited to stand trial in Turkey where the murder took place.
The Somali statement said that the Saudi Prosecutors investigation is “a step on the right direction to clarify the full truth about circumstances of the case.” The poorly written statement with many grammatical errors clearly appears rushed and omits to mention that the CIA concluded that the murder was ordered by Crown prince Mohamed bin Salman himself in a Washington Post article. This is compounded by the Turkish government’s threat that they will release the recordings they have of the actual murder of Jamal Khashoggi which will further dent the credibility of the Saudi government’s claims and all those that supported them blindly like Somalia.
The Somali Foreign Ministry is destroying the credibility of Somalia by supporting Saudi Arabia unnecessarily. The Ministry should protect Somali interest which should be to remain neutral. The Somali Foreign Minister’s have shamed themselves and their people with their diplomatic servitude which will now damage relations with Turkey. Turkey committed to Somalia at a time when nobody else cared. President Erdogan visited Somalia along with his family and Cabinet when Al-Shabaab was fighting the TFG force on the Mogadishu streets. Turks invested in our airport and seaport. They built our roads, educated many of our youth and still train our soldiers. The governent statement which supports Saudi Arabia is a betrayal of both our Turkish friends and our people. It is a denial of what Turkey has and continues to do for us.
The best cause of action is for President Farmaajo and Prime Minister Kheyre to fix this situation by sacking the incompetent, embarrassing, pointlessly globetrotting Foreign Minister Ahmed Awad. He has failed our nation enough with his horrific judgement and political actions. One reading of social media responses by the Somali people will justify this drastic response.