Somalia's President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud delivers a joint press conference with the German Chancellor after talks at the Chancellery in Berlin, on November 5, 2024. (Odd ANDERSEN / AFP)

Somali president to visit Turkey after Israeli recognition of breakaway Somaliland

Hassan Sheikh Mohamud will discuss measures for ‘national unity’ and other ‘regional developments,’ after Ankara, Mogadishu both denounce Israel’s decision on autonomous territory

by · The Times of Israel

Somalia’s president is to visit close ally Turkey on Tuesday following Israel’s recognition of the breakaway territory of Somaliland, Turkey’s presidency said.

Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud will hold talks “on the current situation in Somalia in the fight against terrorism, measures taken by the federal Somali government towards national unity and regional developments,” Burhanettin Duran, head of the Turkish presidency’s communications directorate, said on X.

Turkey on Friday denounced Israel’s recognition of Somaliland, a self-proclaimed republic, calling it “overt interference in Somalia’s domestic affairs.”

Ankara, a close ally of Somalia, provides military and economic assistance to the country, which has been devastated by civil war since the early 1990s.

Turkey is helping to rebuild its army and infrastructure while ensuring its presence in East Africa, including at sea.

In his own condemnation, Mohamud called Israel’s recognition of the breakaway territory a “threat to the security and stability of the world and the region.”

Residents wave Somaliland flags as they gather to celebrate Israel’s announcement recognizing Somaliland’s statehood in downtown Hargeisa, December 26, 2025. (FARHAN ALELI / AFP)

Somaliland declared independence in 1991, as Somalia was plunged into chaos following the fall of dictator Siad Barre.

The region has operated autonomously since then and possesses its own currency, army, and police force.

It has generally experienced greater stability than Somalia, where Al-Shabaab Islamic militants periodically mount attacks in the capital, Mogadishu.

Diplomatic isolation has been the norm — until Israel’s move to recognize it as a sovereign nation, which has been criticized by the African Union, Egypt, the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council and the Saudi-based Organization of Islamic Cooperation.

The European Union has insisted Somalia’s sovereignty should be respected.

Israel is the only UN member state to recognize Somaliland’s independence.

Crowds celebrate in Somaliland’s capital, Hargeisa, as an Israeli flag is projected on the exterior of the National Museum of the breakaway East African nation following its recognition by Israel on December 26, 2025. (Screen capture via social media, used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)

The recognition is the latest move by Israel that has angered Turkey, with relations collapsing between the two countries in recent years.

Ankara has strongly condemned Israel’s offensive in the Gaza Strip as it battled Hamas in a war triggered on October 7, 2023, when the Palestinian terror group led an invasion of southern Israel.

A US-brokered ceasefire halted the fighting in October. Israel has opposed Turkey’s participation in a future stabilization force in the Palestinian territory that is part of the ceasefire’s vision for post-war Gaza.

Somaliland has been floated in the past as a potential destination for Gazans who emigrate from the war-torn Strip.