User:Nilsuc/Camp TURKSOM

Camp TURKSOM (Somali: Xerada TURKSOM, Turkish: Somali Türk Görev Kuvveti Komutanlığı) is a military base and a defence university, since its inception, Camp TURKSOM served as the main hub of the intergovermental task force dubbed "African Eagle" in which Turkey sought to train and prepare the Somali Armed Forces' officers and NCO's to make the Somali Armed Forces into a military that can sustain itself. Alongside offering training support to the Somali Armed Forces for its sustainability, the base extends this training and provides necessary equipment for the country’s coastguard and navy as well. These trainings in the larger scheme are aimed at aiding the Somali soldiers in fighting against Al-Shabaab, which received criticism from African Union Mission to Somalia (AMISOM) for replicating its efforts with regards to military training. This military base serves as Turkey's largest overseas military facility. Located in Mogadishu, it takes up a space of 400 hectares. Camp TURKSOM is a part of the “Opening to Africa” policy of Turkey, initiated in 2005 by Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

History[ edit]
The base was formally opened on September 30, 2017, in a ceremony preside by Hulusi Akar of the Turkish Armed Forces and Prime Minister Hassan Ali Khaire. Construction of the base cost an estimated USD$50 million. Construction of the base was started in 2015 and it took approximately two years. On the 18th of April 2019, an entire battalion had graduated from the military academy known as the 1st Infantry Battalion (Somali: 1aad Ciidamad Badan). Since its establishment, the military base has been carrying out trainings alongside AMISOM, by 2020 it is expected for the activities of AMISOM to decline in Somalia if not get fully terminated. AMISOM’s efforts have mainly been targeted by Al-Shabaab due to majority of its staff and soldiers being composed of non-Muslims. Camp TURKSOM has proposed an alternative to this situation by offering trainings conducted by Muslims as well as aiming to raise a national army for Somalia.

Function[ edit]
Over 10,000 Somalia soldiers are expected to be trained at the base, according to Turkish military officials. It can train and house approximately 1,000 soldiers at a time. The base is approximately four square kilometers in size. Since its construction, officers and NCO's of all branches of the Somali Armed Forces graduate routinely as the Officer's course and training is 2 years, and the NCO course and training is a year long, the officer candidates will graduate to the 2nd Lieutenant and the NCO's candidates will graduate to the rank of Warrant Officer Class 3. Inside and on the university's university grounds, there are classrooms, a conference room, a on-site training grounds, football pitches, basketball courts, simulation maritime rooms, language labs, barbers and other amenities. More than 200 Turkish military personnel will be stationed at the base.Camp TURKSOM has the capacity to accommodate approximately 1500 trainees at a certain point in time.

The candidates and graduates of the defence university who to be come known as the 1st Infantry Battalion are identifiable with the sky blue beret and the unique Turksom crest instead of the seal of the Armed Forces. As Somalia is under a UN embargo and cannot obtain fighter planes and other aircraft, the air force candidates are trained in Turkey instead.

Regional Rivalries in the Middle East
The Middle Eastern regional rivalry has extended to include efforts in obtaining hegemony in the Horn of Africa within the past years in order to extend political objectives beyond the borders of the region. Certain scholars have emphasised that the Turkish military presence in Somalia could pose a threat to countries such as the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Saudi Arabia, countries which are within a regional rivalry against the current Turkey-Qatar alliance. There have been various efforts by both the Saudi Arabia-UAE alliance and Turkey-Qatar alliance to dominate the Horn of Africa in terms of bringing support into sectors such as that of security and development. Alongside Turkey, the UAE has also established a military base that is located in Mogadishu in 2015, which serves to support the Somali National Army (SNA) similarly through means such as trainings. UAE has also been involved with a deal to build a military base in Somaliland in 2017 in order to safeguard the Berbera seaport. This seaport is managed by the Dubai World Port with a 30-year contract. The Berbera base was threatened by the Houthi rebels in Yemen due to the UAE involvement in the Yemeni conflict. The UAE’s training forces located at the Mogadishu military base withdrew after tensions surrounding the relations between Somalia and the UAE post the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) crisis in 2018.

Al Shabaab
Al Shabaab’s foreign policy focuses on preventing foreign presence within Somalia. This policy is evaluated by scholars as a challenge towards the current Turkish military engagement in the country. Turkey has previously been a target of Al Shabaab attacks in Somalia and some examples include the 2013 attack against a Turkish Mission in Somalia, 2016 attack in the Aden Abdulle International Airport against Daallo Airlines, 2017 attack on Mogadishu, and a Turkish citizen being threatened in 2019. Al Shabaab has negatively impacted the Turkish-Somalian relations by counteracting efforts in economic restructuring, aid and investment programs as well as the creation of a new political system.

Turkish Interests
The opening of the base relates to improving relations between Turkey and countries that are a part of the African continent. Statements made by officials suggest that Turkish interests in Somalia mainly revolve around the implementation of a development aid plan encompassing support for the country in its peace building objectives as well as within the public service sector. Moreover, some have argued that Somalia could be a location in which both the Turkish military and government could have an influence due to the political instability. Other ways in which the military engagement have been considered as beneficial to the Turkish state include those relating to the possible economic interests of Turkey with regards to the resources present in Somalia. Somalia also is situated by world trade routes as well as the Bab-El Mandeb strait, which is a strategic location. Other possible interests that have been put forth as part of scholarly debates include aiding Somalia in anti-piracy efforts, securing Turkish economic interests in the East Africa region, marketing of Turkish defence industry’s products and emerging as a stronger power within the Middle Eastern region and beyond.

Turkish Military
In 2017, the Turkish Presidency of Defence Industries stated: ‘Development of defence industry exports and creating new international cooperation fields to increase its competitiveness in international markets’ as part of its strategic goals. Turkish Vision for 2023 includes opening new markets in both Asia and Africa in order to fulfil the country's objectives surrounding defence industry products.

Neo-Ottomanism
Various media sources have evaluated Camp TURKSOM to be a part of Turkey’s Neo-Ottoman foreign policy. Scholars who pursue this argument suggest that Turkey has been taking various actions in order to boost its geopolitical standing not only in the Middle East but throughout the Islamic world and beyond. These arguments state that Turkish military engagement within the Horn of Africa is in line with a Neo-Ottomanist foreign policy.

Criticisms
There have been various criticisms targeting the Turkish military involvement in Somalia that have been introduced by different actors. These actors range from Al-Shabaab to Western and Gulf countries. A mutual criticism that has been stated by all these actors targets the fact that the Turkish involvement in Somalia has been mainly focused in Mogadishu excluding regions such as Puntland and Somaliland.