Sources tell MEE minister’s efforts to deepen military, energy and aerospace cooperation with Ankara unsettled Washington.
Somalia’s President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud dismissed his defence minister, Abuldkadir Mohamed Nur, on Sunday following lobbying efforts by the US military, sources told Middle East Eye.
Nur has been reassigned as the minister of ports amid indications that US military support for Somalia’s fight against al-Shabab – an armed group designated as a terrorist organisation by Washington – has slowed.
Two sources familiar with the situation told MEE that Nur’s efforts to deepen Somalia’s military, energy and aerospace cooperation with Turkey unsettled Washington, which maintains closer ties with the United Arab Emirates in the Horn of Africa.
Under Nur’s leadership, Somalia and Turkey signed a comprehensive naval, trade and defence agreement in February last year.
While the full details of the deal remain undisclosed, sources indicate that it grants Turkey the responsibility of safeguarding Somali waters, establishing a Somali navy and assisting in the exploration of energy resources, as a response to Ethiopia’s naval deal with the breakaway region of Somaliland.
