Turkey to deliver T129 Atak helicopters to Somalia under defence pact
The transfer of the aircraft—a key asset in combating Al-Shabaab insurgents—follows the signing of a bilateral defence pact earlier this year.
Turkey will supply T129 Atak helicopters to Somalia’s navy as part of a bilateral defence pact signed earlier this year, Bloomberg reports.
The transfer of the aircraft—a key asset in combating Al-Shabaab insurgents—follows the signing of a bilateral defence pact earlier this year.
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The deal is part of a broader 10-year agreement inked in February that allows Turkey to train and equip Somalia's defence forces.
Ankara also secured a separate hydrocarbons exploration and production deal, granting Turkish Petroleum Corp. operational rights in the Horn of Africa nation.
While Somalia's ministries of defence and foreign affairs did not immediately respond to requests for comment, Turkish defence officials defended the move.
"Turkey's training, assistance and consultancy activities are to ensure security and stability in Somalia and are within the scope of the agreements between the two countries," they told Bloomberg.
The measures, they added, are designed "to prevent terrorist attacks, especially against joint economic activities and to ensure the security of its units in the region."
Over the past decade, Turkey has steadily expanded its influence in the region, leveraging defence cooperation and infrastructure investments.
Ankara previously facilitated dialogue between Somalia and Ethiopia and sought to mediate disputes between Mogadishu and Somaliland, a semi-autonomous region.
This latest military engagement highlights Ankara's strategic calculus: by bolstering Somalia's counterterrorism capacity and embedding itself in its resource-rich energy sector, Turkey cements its growing geopolitical presence in the Horn of Africa—an area of intensifying global interest.
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