No interruption in Somalia aid: Ankara

ANKARA - Hürriyet Daily News

Women protest the deadly attack on the Turkish mission in Mogadishu. AA photo

Turkish officials expressed determination to continue the country’s humanitarian assistance to the conflict-ridden African country of Somalia despite a fatal attack that killed a Turkish police officer last month.

“There is no sign that would prompt us to say the attack has led to a dramatic change on the ground concerning the delivery of aid. Yet, we can assume a slowdown in the delivery because top security measures have been implemented since the attack,” a Turkish diplomat told the Hürriyet Daily News Aug. 12, when asked about the state of affairs surrounding the delivery of the humanitarian assistance provided by the Turkish government to Somalia through several institutions, particularly in the aftermath of the deadly attack on the Turkish mission in Mogadishu.

A car loaded with explosives rammed the gates of the Turkish embassy compound in the Somali capital July 27, killing a Turkish Special Forces officer and injuring three others. Al-Shabaab militants claimed responsibility for the attack. “There is no intention either to stop or decrease the aid being provided by the government. There may be a slowdown since officials have been acting more cautiously now,” the same diplomat, speaking under customary condition of anonymity, said.

Turkey launched a major diplomatic, economic and humanitarian push in war-torn Somalia, becoming one of very few nations to set up an embassy in the capital after members of al-Shabaab were driven out of the city in 2011.