Turkey to deploy 60,000 soldiers in bases abroad

[AyubD]

Looks like Turkey might be replacing AMISOM after all. Turkey only has 3 bases so far. There are in Qatar, Somalia and soon in Sudan. By 2022, Turkey plans to deploy 60,000 soldiers in bases abroad. It is highly likely many of them will be stationed in Somalia. Right now there are only 200 Turkish military personnel in Mogadishu. They are training our army.

"The Turkish National Security Council finalized the plan yesterday, in order to meet Turkey’s military and commercial interests to support its allies."

That will be a GREAT news for Somalia to have the disciplined Turkish army with modern weapons providing security along side the Somali National Army!!

My understanding 20,000 will be based in the upcoming Suakin base, Sudan.

I wonder if Turks have plans for Djibouti since the offer for the base is on the table. In the article it says four bases.
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Turkey to deploy 60,000 soldiers in bases abroad, including in Qatar


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60,000 armed Turkish soldiers will be deployed across four military bases abroad in accordance with a new 2022 plan, The New Khalij reported today.

The Turkish National Security Council finalised the plan yesterday, in order to meet Turkey’s military and commercial interests to support its allies.

Turkey already has 3,000 troops deployed near the Red Sea, in Somalia and a military base in Sudan’s Suakin Island, which is capable of holding some 20,000 military personnel for five years. 200 Turkish soldiers have been deployed in Somalia since October last year, training Somalia’s military.

In addition to some hundred soldiers currently based in Qatar’s Al-Udeid military base since shortly after the blockade on Qatar, Turkey plans to deploy more to fulfil its 2022 plan. The number has not publically been disclosed.

Qatar announced today that Turkish commercial firms will be given priority for business during the World Cup in 2022, to be held in the capital of Qatar, Doha.

Some 112 companies from a variety of sectors will be attending Expo Turkey by Qatar, co-organized with Turkey’s Independent Industrialists and Business people’s’ Association (MUSIAD). Turkish and Qatari commercial firms have already signed business agreements worth some 60 million dollars.

https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20180 ... -in-qatar/

[AyubD]

I am guessing some of the current cadets who are being trained at the Turkish base in Mogadishu will be sent to Turkey to military schools to become army officers, especially those who are quick and disciplined learners.

You can see at the end of the video, several Somali cadets giving interview in Turkish.

[AyubD]

Darn. Suakin hand-over to Turks really stirred up the hornet's nest. The Red Sea is becoming a rival to the Persian Gulf.

Turkey, Sudan, Somalia and Qatar are on one side while Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt and Eritrea on another side. Looks like Djibouti is slowly tilting toward the first group.

The U.S., Russia, China, France, Israel and Iran are on the sidelines watching the brawl to unfold. I believe Russia and Iran will side with Turks if push come to shove. The U.S. and Israel will side with Saudi Arabia. France will sympathize Egypt. China will stay neutral, but they will probably covertly support Turkey.

Turkey has another silent but strong ally, nuclear Pakistan. Their military cooperation is really picking up. Turks are building naval ships for Pakistan in the Karachi shipyard if I am not mistaken. Pakistan is also planning to buy a number of Turkish T129 Attack Helicopter. I believe Pakistan will transfer nuclear military technology to Turkey in coming years.

Ethiopia is torn between supporting Turkey in its stand-off with Egypt and coming out against Turkey. Turks are slowly but surely eating up Ethiopia's influence over Somalia.

Somalia needs to ride out this surge in activities in its own favor.

Now Turkey has upped the ante. Aftershocks will get even louder.

Better get some popcorn and coke and enjoy the show. It surely beats watching Netflix series.
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UAE-backed Egyptian forces arrive in Eritrea

January 4, 2018

Following coordination with the United Arab Emirates, Egyptian forces arrived in Eritrea today, Al Sharq has reported. The forces are armed with modern technology and heavy armoured vehicles. Sources told Al Sharq that a meeting was convened between the UAE, Egypt and the Sudanese opposition representing groups in Darfur and eastern Sudan. There are no reported military confrontations.

The military presence in Eritrea may be a response to Sudan allowing Turkey to take over Suakin Island in Sudan temporarily last year, as part of a broader Turkish engagement policy in Africa. Suakin was once Sudan’s largest port and governed by the Ottoman Empire but has fallen into disuse since the creation of Port Sudan in the 20th century just 60 kilometres to the north.

Al Sharq reported that, according to diplomatic sources, Turkey is planning to build a military base on Suakin Island. It opened a military base in Somalia last year, deploying 200 troops to train local Somali forces. Relations between Abu Dhabi, Cairo and Khartoum have been strained as a result of Turkey’s presence in Sudan.

An Egyptian military source denied that there were plans to establish a base in Eritrea back in May last year. Media reports in Sudan claimed that Egypt communicated with Somalia and Djibouti to establish a base for 20,000 to 30,000 soldiers.

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Sudanese troops deployed on border with Eritrea

January 6, 2018

The Sudanese army has deployed thousands of troops on its borders with Eritrea, after Egypt sent its own soldiers, in coordination with the UAE, to an Eritrean base in Sawa. According to Al-Jazeera, the Sudanese forces have already reached the Kassala border garrison, while both Sudan and Ethiopia have declared their borders with Eritrea closed.

The Assayha Sudanese newspaper quoted Ethiopian sources as saying that the government of the Ethiopian western region sent military reinforcements to the border triangle with Eritrea and Sudan. The same sources revealed details of Eritrean military reinforcements supported by Egypt, as well as rebel movements from the Darfur region in western Sudan, gathering near the Sudanese-Eritrean border.

The Sawa base, which is located in the Gash-Barka region bordering eastern Sudan, is the main centre for training National Service soldiers. Al-Jazeera reported that a meeting was held at the base which included a number of military and security leaders from Egypt, the UAE, Eritrea and the Sudanese opposition represented in some Darfur and eastern Sudan movements.

[AyubD]

It is all done now, Turkey had won at all fronts check this news

‏بعد اتفاق ‎سواكن : تركيا تتجه للاتفاق مع إيران على استئجار طويل الأمد لجزر طنب الكبرى والصغرى وجزيرة أبو موسى وإعادة تأهيلها واستخدامها لأغراض متعددة..
اردوغان مستمر في الضرب.

Turkika oo ka ijaaran toono Iiraan Jaziiradaha oo asal ahaan ay leedahay dawlada imaraatka.
Taasna waxay dharbaaxo u tahay dawlada Emirates..

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I know Turkey has secured the land corridor through Iraq and Iran. But the lease of the Abu Musa, Greater and Lesser Tunb islands by Turkey from Iran in the Strait of Hormuz comes as a big surprise to me.

All oil and LP tankers entering and exiting the Persian Gulf have to go through those island. If Turkey puts a naval base there, they will practically control the Persian Gulf.

Additionally they won't need to go through the Suez canal to get to the Suakin base in Sudan. Turk will just haul military re-supply hardware through the land corridor. And Turkish naval ships will go through the Gibraltar and around Africa to be permanently stationed in Suakin and Abu Musa bases.

Egypt and Saudi Arabia/UAE got cucked. UAE government should have never insulted the legacy of Fahreddin Pasha, the Ottoman governor of Medina. Erdogan already considers the Saudi/UAE ruling class as traitors of the Islamic world. Now these Bedouin desert niggas made it personal with Erdogan. I can only imagine how hard Qatar is laughing at these idiots. Kuwait and Bahrain will now start kowtowing extra hard in front of Turkey.

I still find it hard to believe that Iran would hand over such a strategic area to Turkey. If it is true, what an epic man is Erdogan. I mean who would have believed a year ago that Sudan would hand-over the strategic Suakin island to Turkey either, right?

Looks like all this Sunni and Shia rivalry is a made-up shit. This is a good news for Yemen.

Turkey now is literally a stone-throw away from UAE.
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Abu Musa

Abu Musa Island is a 12.8 square kilometer (4.9 sq mi) island in the eastern Persian Gulf near the entrance to the Strait of Hormuz. Due to the depth of sea, oil tankers and big ships have to pass between Abu Musa and Greater and Lesser Tunbs; this makes these islands some of the most strategic points in the Persian Gulf. The island is administered by Iran as part of its province of Hormozgan, but is also claimed by the United Arab Emirates as a territory of the emirate of Sharjah.
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[Mustafee101]

The Chinese are already taking over many countries in Africa. I don’t trust this Turks at all

[AyubD]

The Chinese are already taking over many countries in Africa. I don’t trust this Turks at all

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Do we have an alternative to Turks?

Could you tell us how Somalia should move forward?

[FAH1223]

and they just invaded more into Syria's Afrin region

[AyubD]

and they just invaded more into Syria's Afrin region

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I read that the Turkish army and the affiliated FSA fighters have entered the city. By some estimates there are between 8,000 and 10,000 battle-hardened YPG/PKK Kurdish fighters in the city. Russia has removed its troops from Afrin canton. It is going to be an epic fight if Kurds stand ground. Interesting thing the Afrin canton was handed over to YPG/PKK fighters by Damascus 5 years ago to piss off Turkey. Assad armed them as well. Kurds also have U.S.-supplied weapons. Another interesting thing the refugees that fled Afrin in all those years are not allowed to enter back by the Kurds. I am guessing Kurds are ethnically cleansing the area of Arabs.

After the Afrin falls, Turks will take over Manbij city and move to the east of the Euphrates river per Erdogan announcement.

Basically what happened here is that the U.S. decided to partition Syria and create 30,000 strong Kurdish force to protect the new border. Erdogan openly said he will crush their plans. Russia and Turkey are for preserving the territorial integrity of Syria. That's why Russia is not openly going against Turkey in its push to capture the YPG/PKK controlled lands and actually is complicit with Turkish moves.

The U.S. has a huge disadvantage in the area. It does not have sizeable troops on the ground and the Kurdish fighters are not a match to Turkish military. I expect Turkey to take over the whole north-eastern part of Syria all the way to the Iraqi border unless the U.S. makes concessions to Turkey and abandons its plans for Kurds. Iraq and Iran are supporting the Turkish move. Turkish foreign minister was in Baghdad yesterday.

What we are seeing here is the U.S. trying to deprive Iran of the access to the area, thus serving the interests of Israel and Saudi Arabia. Russia and Turkey are really messing up their plans. Iran is in a weakened state at the moment due to the recent protests caused by the spike in food prices and the overall decline in the living standard of Iranians. Right now Turkey is actually covering for the food shortages that caused the spike in prices. Iranian president called Erdogan few weeks ago requesting him to start sending the basic food items like eggs, etc to Iran. I am guessing Iran is seeing Turkey now as its security guarantor after Erdogan strongly came in support of the Iranian government. I believe that's why Iran is handing over the Abu Musa island in the Persian Gulf to Turkey.

You know there is an open rift right now between Russia and Iran. Russia excluded Iran from the post war reconstruction projects in Syria. Iranian leaders lashed out at Russia for that. And now Iran is trying to clinch closer to Turkey.

The Middle East is one fucked place with alliances always shifting. Turkey and Russia are winning at the moment. But things can change quickly.

Anyway, I believe the fate of Syria will be pretty much decided at the meeting of Putin, Erdogan and Rouhani in Sochi in about two weeks from now. Russia already controls the skies over Syria and Turkey will take over the northeastern Syria. The U.S. will get marginalized. That's for now.

[AyubD]

Isn't it f-king funny when Sunni Turkey is acting as a guardian of Shiite Iran?

Things have changed so such in the last few years that it is almost comical now.
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January 21, 2018

MOSCOW (Reuters) - “Unilateral actions” by the United States in Iran and Syria have infuriated Turkey, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told Kommersant newspaper in an interview.

“Many political scientists are asking why do we care and say that the worst is the best: let the United States prove its inability to find an agreement, (to show) its destructive role in global affairs, let it be in Iran or Syria and where the unilateral actions have already infuriated Turkey,” he said.

In the interview to Kommersant, conducted earlier this week and published on Sunday, Lavrov also said that an attempt by the U.S. via the possible new sanctions to change Russian foreign policy was ‘unpromising’.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mide ... SKBN1FA12A

[FAH1223]

and they just invaded more into Syria's Afrin region

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I read that the Turkish army and the affiliated FSA fighters have entered the city. By some estimates there are between 8,000 and 10,000 battle-hardened YPG/PKK Kurdish fighters in the city. Russia has removed its troops from Afrin canton. It is going to be an epic fight if Kurds stand ground. Interesting thing the Afrin canton was handed over to YPG/PKK fighters by Damascus 5 years ago to piss off Turkey. Assad armed them as well. Kurds also have U.S.-supplied weapons. Another interesting thing the refugees that fled Afrin in all those years are not allowed to enter back by the Kurds. I am guessing Kurds are ethnically cleansing the area of Arabs.

After the Afrin falls, Turks will take over Manbij city and move to the east of the Euphrates river per Erdogan announcement.

Basically what happened here is that the U.S. decided to partition Syria and create 30,000 strong Kurdish force to protect the new border. Erdogan openly said he will crush their plans. Russia and Turkey are for preserving the territorial integrity of Syria. That's why Russia is not openly going against Turkey in its push to capture the YPG/PKK controlled lands and actually is complicit with Turkish moves.

The U.S. has a huge disadvantage in the area. It does not have sizeable troops on the ground and the Kurdish fighters are not a match to Turkish military. I expect Turkey to take over the whole north-eastern part of Syria all the way to the Iraqi border unless the U.S. makes concessions to Turkey and abandons its plans for Kurds. Iraq and Iran are supporting the Turkish move. Turkish foreign minister was in Baghdad yesterday.

What we are seeing here is the U.S. trying to deprive Iran of the access to the area, thus serving the interests of Israel and Saudi Arabia. Russia and Turkey are really messing up their plans. Iran is in a weakened state at the moment due to the recent protests caused by the spike in food prices and the overall decline in the living standard of Iranians. Right now Turkey is actually covering for the food shortages that caused the spike in prices. Iranian president called Erdogan few weeks ago requesting him to start sending the basic food items like eggs, etc to Iran. I am guessing Iran is seeing Turkey now as its security guarantor after Erdogan strongly came in support of the Iranian government. I believe that's why Iran is handing over the Abu Musa island in the Persian Gulf to Turkey.

You know there is an open rift right now between Russia and Iran. Russia excluded Iran from the post war reconstruction projects in Syria. Iranian leaders lashed out at Russia for that. And now Iran is trying to clinch closer to Turkey.

The Middle East is one fucked place with alliances always shifting. Turkey and Russia are winning at the moment. But things can change quickly.

Anyway, I believe the fate of Syria will be pretty much decided at the meeting of Putin, Erdogan and Rouhani in Sochi in about two weeks from now. Russia already controls the skies over Syria and Turkey will take over the northeastern Syria. The U.S. will get marginalized. That's for now.

Iran has been an ally of Assad regime since the 1980s when Syria backed Iran in the war vs. Iraq. They probably don't want Turkey in Syria but the Kurds didn't want to let the Syrian army back into Afrin to deter the Turks. They should have listened to Moscow which is why the Russians and Turks met in Moscow last week and the Russians green lighted the air space.

I don't see the Turks taking over the entirety of the Syrian side of the border. I think the Kurds will call Damascus up and make a deal so that the Turks and their FSA fighters don't advance too further.

Also, Afrin is mountainous area... its tough as hell for the Turks to take it and hold that area.