The strategic interest of Turkey's foreign policy in Somalia

The purpose of this study is to examine and determine the Turkish engagement in Somalia particularly, the strategic interest of Turkey's foreign policy in Somalia. Since 2011, the Turkish government has taken important steps to increase its diplomatic, and political relations with Somalia as soft power diplomacy in the direction of '1998 African Action Plan'. Since then, the Horn of Africa become a power struggle ground for the countries of the Middle East like Turkey, Iran, Israel and Gulf countries. This renewed interest is due to the regions strategic and geopolitical importance that resulted in today's scramble for influence among these countries which are driven by both geo-security and geo-economic imperatives. For that reasons, the Turkish foreign policy makers have begun to develop new strategies that shifted from a one-sided foreign policy to a multi-faceted foreign policy in Somalia. However, this study examines the strategic interest of Turkey's foreign policy in Somalia particularly, the new economic and security policy in Mogadishu. The first chapter of the study, covers the literature review of the study, including the key concepts, and the key arguments of Turkey's engagement in Somalia. The second chapter deals with Turkish foreign policy in Africa, particularly Somalia because Turkey's policy in Somalia is intertwined with Turkish general policy in Africa. The third chapter, discusses and analyses Turkey's strategic interest in Somalia, by providing insight into the actions of Turkey's security, economic and geopolitical interests like Turkey's military base in Mogadishu and its investment in some parts of Somalia. Both primary and secondary sources of data were used to carry out the study.