Somalia should fight against piracy more seriously, parliament speaker says
Bartamaha (Nairobi):-The Turkish parliament speaker said on Wednesday that Somalia should fight against piracy more seriously
Turkey’s Parliament Speaker Mehmet Ali Åžahin said Somali security forces should carry out a more serious fight against piracy at the Gulf of Aden.
“Somalia should not be a country associated with piracy,” Åžahin said during his meeting with Somali Parliament Speaker Sheikh Adan Mohamed Nur in Ankara.
Åžahin said Turkey feared that piracy could spread to other African coasts if the piracy off Somalia was not countered seriously.
“Turkey will continue to help Somalia to overcome this problem,” he said.
Åžahin underlined great importance Turkey attached to Somalia’s sovereignty, territorial integrity, unity and independence, and said internal conflicts in Somalia should be ended and stability should be restored as soon as possible.
Turkey was supporting the peace process launched in Djibouti to prevent clashes, Åžahin said.
Åžahin reaffirmed Turkey’s support to initiatives to broaden the Somali parliament so that it would include all segments of the society, and Somali government’s “open door” policy towards opponents.
Turkey was supporting UN activities aiming to restore stability in Somalia, and Turkey had applied to host a UN conference in Istanbul, Åžahin also said.
Also speaking in the meeting, Nur said Somalia trusted Turkey very much in ensuring stability.
Nur said internal clashes were being made in Somalia in the name of religion, and some extreme groups were aggravating those clashes.
Somalia was also countering terrorists coming from other countries, Nur said.
Nur said extreme groups were killing every one without making any discrimination, and the top members of those terrorist groups were not Somali people.
“They are generally coming from Pakistan and Afghanistan, and if Somali central government is assisted and strengthened, we can cope with these incidents,” Nur said.
Åžahin later hosted a luncheon in honor of Nur and accompanying delegation.
Turkey has sent six frigates to Somalia since February 2009 to serve international anti-piracy mission at the Gulf of Aden.
Turkish underwater assault commandos captured seven pirates on a skiff boat in the Gulf of Aden on March 6.
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Source:- .todayszaman
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