Türkiye is among the countries exempted from the arms embargo imposed on this country by the United Nations Security Council due to the military and technical training it provides in Somalia, the U.N. sources said Tuesday.
The U.N. Security Council extended the embargo until Nov. 15, 2023, citing the continued threat of the al-Shabab terrorist group to the region's peace and stability. The embargo has been in effect since 1992 to cut off the flow of weapons to the country after it was dragged into a civil war.
The resolution prohibits all U.N. members from delivering weapons and military equipment to Somalia as well as financing but exempts military training, technical support and other assistance provided to train the Somalian military, the improvement of its institutions and prevention of piracy and armed robbery on its coast.
While the exemption has already been applied to the United Nations Assistance Mission in Somalia (UNSOM) and African Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS), Türkiye, the United Kingdom, the United States, and the European Union have been included on the list of the nations exempted from the embargo.
The Somalia-Turkish Task Force Command of the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) significantly contributes to meeting the needs of qualified Somalian military personnel.
Turkish troops arrived in Somalia in 2017 after reaching an agreement on military training and technical cooperation with the nation in 2010.
Somalia has been plagued by insecurity for years, with the al-Shabab terrorist group being one of the main threats in the Horn of Africa country.
Since at least 2007, al-Shabab has waged a deadly campaign against the government and international forces that have claimed thousands of lives, including a car bomb attack in late October in Mogadishu that killed at least 100 people and wounded 300 others.
