Iran, Turkey compete on rebuilding Somalia

[Hammer-fist]

Iran, Turkey compete on rebuilding Somalia


Iranian FM says Tehran will establish diplomatic presence in Mogadishu, Turkish FM says Ankara will help rebuild Somalia.


Middle East Online




Iran seeks to boost its ties in the horn of Africa



MOGADISHU - Top government officials from Iran and Turkey arrived in Mogadishu Wednesday on a one-day visit in a bid to bolster diplomatic and economic ties with Somalia as it emerges from decades of civil strife.

Leading the two delegations were Iranian Foreign Affairs Minister Ali Akbar Salehi and his Turkish counterpart Ahmet Davutoglu.

Salehi told journalists at the airport on his arrival that Iran would soon establish a diplomatic presence in Somalia.

"Our purpose in coming to Somalia is to keep extending our brotherly hand to the Somali people. We are delighted to be in Mogadishu today and very soon, the Iranian government will open the Embassy of Iran in Somalia," Salehi said.

Ahmet Davutoglu for his part told the recently constituted Somali parliament that Ankara would help Somalia in its rebuilding effort.

"You are not alone, we are always with you and will help you rebuild this country," Davutoglu said.

The two ministers pledged the support of their respective countries in improving Somalia's infrastructure, with Iran planning to construct a hospital and Turkey offering to build a road.

In May, representatives from 54 countries who gathered in Istanbul to map out a better future for Somalia called for a broad international reconstruction effort.

After the successful drive by African Union forces to rid Mogadishu and other key locations such as Baidoa and Kismayo of Al Qaeda-linked Shebab militia, the Horn of Africa country is largely seen to be open for business.

.:Middle East Online::Iran, Turkey compete on rebuilding Somalia:.

 

[Hammer-fist]

1. Somalia is a member of the Arab league and:

- Geographically

- Culturally

- Racially (Yemenis and Somalis, Somalis and Sudanese, Somalis and some Hejazis)

- Lingusitically (most Somalis speak Arabic and plus they are both part of the Afro-Asiatic language family)

- Historically

closer to the Arabs than the Turks let alone the Shia Iranians.

2. Have the Arabs abandoned these brothers of theirs who are part of the Arab league?

Credit to Turkey and Iran for helping the Somalis (regardless of their interests) and disappointed (but not surprised) with the Arabs.

 

[Kamal_Jamal]

Credit to Turkey and Iran for helping the Somalis (regardless of their interests) and disappointed (but not surprised) with the Arabs.

Actually to contrary belief the Arabs have done more for Somalia than Turkey and Iran. Iran and Turkey’s adventures into Somalia have been recent. Arabs have always been involved in Somalia.

You cannot help the Somalis if they cannot help themselves. Somalia’s problems literally could be solved within a day but the Somali elites don’t want it and their clan mentality is preventing them. Example, one region in Somalia was to break off because they were colonized by the British not the Italians, but they are the people of the same race, culture, religion and ethnic background.

 

[Hammer-fist]

1. Ok, even if Arabs have done a lot for Somalia (some examples would be nice) that doesn't mean they need to do nothing now.

The Palestinian issue may have gone on for ages but at the end of the day they are Arabs and no Arab-state will say let's forget them. Commitment to them is permanent just as commitment to people inside your national borders, though priority goes to your co-nationals/countrymen first.

2. I don't know that much about Somalia but what I do know (having had Somali friends) the differences between them are far greater than let's say the Libyan Arabs.

- Somalis differ racially from region to region with at one extreme some looking partially-Yemeni and another some looking partially negroid. Lighter skinned northerners look down on the darker south.

- Tribally they are different.

Anyway the British did their evil in Somalia as well and divided Somali land in to different parts giving some Somali ethnic areas to Kenya, some to Ethiopia etc all as part of their divide and rule.

3. Somalia is part of the Arab League. The EU would never abandon a EU state in trouble no matter how troublesome it may be.

Somalia is part of the Arab League and not the Turkish League or the Iranian League so why do Turks and Iranians seem to be more active right at this moment?

 

[Kamal_Jamal]

Firstly, you couldn’t be further from the truth. Somalis are not different from one another. Genetically regardless of tribal heritage they all share the same ancestor. There is no such thing as Northern Somali and Southern Somali. Example, those Somalis in Northern Somalia also inhabit Kenya. Northern Somalis are not lighter than Southern Somali. In Ethiopia, where “Northern Somali” inhabit they are extremely dark people. Southern Somali is a bit more diverse however. I know Somalis quite well.

The tribal differences are the problem. It’s not usually Clan A v Clan B, those days are finished. It’s mainly Sub Clan A v Sub Clan B, this is the real problem and sometime it goes sub sub sub Clan A vs sub sub sub Clan B.

I couldn’t answer why Iran and Turkey are now prominent in Somalia now than the Arabs

 

[Surenas]

Iran is helping other African countries too. Iranian medical clinic in Zimbabwe:

 

[Hammer-fist]

Firstly, you couldn’t be further from the truth. Somalis are not different from one another. Genetically regardless of tribal heritage they all share the same ancestor. There is no such thing as Northern Somali and Southern Somali. Example, those Somalis in Northern Somalia also inhabit Kenya. Northern Somalis are not lighter than Southern Somali. In Ethiopia, where “Northern Somali” inhabit they are extremely dark people. Southern Somali is a bit more diverse however. I know Somalis quite well.

The tribal differences are the problem. It’s not usually Clan A v Clan B, those days are finished. It’s mainly Sub Clan A v Sub Clan B, this is the real problem and sometime it goes sub sub sub Clan A vs sub sub sub Clan B.

I couldn’t answer why Iran and Turkey are now prominent in Somalia now than the Arabs

What is the Arab League and the Arab world doing to help an Arab league member state at this moment?

Are Turkey and Iran doing more than the Arab League is for an Arab League member state?

 

[SamranAli]

positive competition is always wellcomed.

 

[Hammer-fist]

Iran is helping other African countries too. Iranian medical clinic in Zimbabwe:

That hospital sure is impressive.

I think Bangladesh, through BRAC and our UN peacekeeping forces may have more of an extensive presence in both western and eastern Africa.

We should definitely seek to improve our soft power there, would like to see a nice looking hospital such as the one above funded/built by us in Africa too.

 

[revojam]

Forget away places like Somalia forget poor Arab middle-east countries Gulf-Arabs yet to unite their little desert kingdoms , instead of uniting and creating one strong Arab country they stay divided and play kinghood among themselves.I got so many things to say about Arabs but forget it i will just get another warning from mods in the end , in short you are expecting too much from Arabs they are not at that level yet.

 

[Hammer-fist]

PLEASE REFRAIN FROM RACIST GENERALIZATIONS AND USING THIS AS AN OPPORTUNITY TO INSULT A WHOLE ETHNIC GROUP.

Not fair to malign Arabs.

Home Page Upper Hand


Qatar Charity conducted last year 1648 project in Bangladesh

Humanity Voice - Qatar Charity conducted last year 1648 project in Bangladesh

The above is just one example.

We should forget about hating whole races of hundreds of millions of people (who contain both good and bad in them) and instead focus on why a country which belongs to a regional bloc (the Arab League) seems to be being abandoned by that same bloc, the Arab League.

This thread is not about Arab-bashing so please refrain from that.

Between 1976 and 2006, Saudi developmental aid amounted to US$49 billion[1], second only to the United States of America. The ODA/GNP ratio averaged 4.2% over this period, well above the highest amount provided by Development Assistance Committee countries (the DAC average is 0.35%).

Saudi foreign assistance - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Somalia needs help and naturally one would have thought it should be people from its region.

 

[mehmeTcc]

We are in Somalia for a long time.

Turks provide aid in Mogadishu, Somalia, where others fear to tread | McClatchy
Insight: Turkey tries out soft power in Somalia | Reuters

We can see a Turkish task force in Somalia in following years. Albania hosts a Turkish naval base, we can establish another one in Somalia.

An interesting comment from one of the links I gave:

The Ottoman empire for all of it's good and evil will be missed !

 

[mehmeTcc]

Not just in Africa, but also in regions like ME, Balkans and Central Asia Turkish influence is rising rapidly. The network of Turkish schools are pumping students to Turkey. Turkey slowly takes control of economies in these regions, mainly in Bosnia, Albania, Macedonia, Azerbaijan and in Turkmenistan. Turkey also founded cooperation agencies like Turkic Council, D-8 and TİKA for boosting its softpower.

We have the talent pool and brands that produces high tech stuff. All we need is new markets.

It needs to export the surplus in huge quantities to keep those factories rolling and the electorate employed and happy. That is best achieved by client states.

Source: GermanyWatch: Greek Bailout A Charter For Fourth Reich (The blog itself is creepy, but it can give an idea about the thing I've mentioned)

Turkey's rise is inevitable.

 

[kollang]

nice competetion.
btw,it seems Iran is not that much evil

 

[kollang]

Iranian actress ,katayun riahi visiting a somalian village