US forced Somalia president to fire defence minister due to his ties with Turkiye, sources reveal

Somalia’s president has fired his defence minister reportedly under pressure from the United States, due to the dismissed official having close ties with Turkiye, sources have revealed.

On Sunday, Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud dismissed his defence minister Abuldkadir Mohamed Nur, in a reshuffle which saw him reassigned as the country’s minister of ports.

According to the news outlet Middle East Eye, which cited unnamed sources familiar with the situation, the move was the result of a demand by the US military in response to Nur’s ties with Turkiye and his efforts to advance Mogadishu’s cooperation with Ankara in the energy, military and aerospace sectors.

As a graduate of Ankara University and reportedly a fluent Turkish speaker, the former Somali defence minister played a key role in furthering relations with Turkiye’s government over the years, with both countries having signed a landmark defence deal in February last year under his guidance.

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One unnamed Somali official is reported to have revealed that US military officers repeatedly pressured President Mohamud to dismiss Nur over concerns regarding his lack of coordination with American forces, with the source saying the officers “also demanded access to the February agreement” and that such “discussions happened multiple times throughout the year as US lobbying efforts intensified”.

Turkiye’s plans to establish a spaceport in Somalia’s wilderness also reportedly worried Washington, which saw the development as a site from which long-range ballistic missile tests could potentially be launched.

It was Ankara’s deployment of two Bayraktar combat drones to Mogadishu on Tuesday which reportedly finally prompted the US to make an ultimatum, with another source stating that the Americans “essentially made it clear that if Nur wasn’t removed, they would reconsider their security cooperation with Mogadishu against Al-Shabab”, referring to the terror group that Turkish and Somali authorities were cooperating to fight against.

Al-Shabaab has frequently attacked military outposts and state targets as part of a mission to overthrow Somalia’s government and establish its own rule based on its strict interpretation of Islamic law.

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