According to some Turkish media, the government of Ankara is planning to send a warship of the navy to the coast of Somalia, to protect a ship that works in exploration and energy research, which is expected to be launched next month to reach the shores of Somalia.
Turkey’s Minister of Energy, Alparslan Bayraktar, told the Turkish media last week that Turkey has a license to extract oil from three areas in the Somali Sea, each of which is 5,000 KM in circumference.He also added that the Turkish Navy will carefully protect the research vessel, as it will operate in the open sea.
According to the agreement signed between Turkey and Somalia earlier this year, Ankara was allowed to protect Somalia’s waters from external threats as well as to grant it the right to explore and drill for energy resources in Somalia’s exclusive economic zone.
It is the first time that a Turkish research vessel is operating in the Somali sea, and it is coming at a time of tension between Mogadishu and Addis Ababa, which resulted from the maritime agreement between Abiy and Muse Bihi.
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