Turkey's dirty game in Somalia

Political tensions have been high in Somalia, stoked by opposition anger over a delay in holding the elections for both chambers of parliament. Opposition supporters marched in the capital Mogadishu denouncing the president for the delay.

The polls were initially planned for this month but that plan was scrapped following disagreements over the composition of the electoral board.

In the letter addressed to Turkey’s ambassador in Somalia, opposition candidates said they had learned Turkey was planning to deliver 1,000 G3 assault rifle and 150,000 bullets to Harma’ad, a special unit in Somalia’s police.

The candidates, the letter said, are “worried about this amount of weapons ... flooding the country at this sensitive election time.”

The president “has already used the Harma’ad forces for coercion and rigging of regional elections, and so there is no doubt the same Harma’ad forces and the weapons from Turkey will be used to hijack the upcoming elections,” it said.

Turkey trained Harama’ad police, a special Somali unit that is known for its violent suppression of peaceful protests in the Horn of Africa country.