Turkey’s Erdogan Pledges 10,000 New Somali Homes During Visit
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan visited Somalia amid tight security, pledging 10,000 new homes to help the country rebuild after more than two decades of conflict.
Turkey will construct the residences within two years for lower- and middle-class families who can’t afford to build or buy, Erdogan told reporters on Sunday at the presidential palace in the capital, Mogadishu. He didn’t give further details.
“We need to refine the lost image of Mogadishu, so that people will see that Mogadishu is recovering from the civil war,” Erdogan said, flanked by Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamoud. Turkish and Somali foreign ministers also signed unspecified defense and industrial agreements during Erdogan’s one-day visit.
Somalia has been mired in conflict since 1991, when ruler Mohamed Siad Barre was removed from power. The government is using its recent military advances against the Islamist militant group al-Shabaab to try to attract investors to help reconstruct its economy.
