Latest news with #Somalia
Zawya
2 hours ago
- Politics
- Zawya
The Legacy of Martyr Ömer Halisdemir Lives on Through Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency's (TİKA) Turkish Language Class in Somalia
Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TİKA) established the 'Martyr Ömer Halisdemir Turkish Language Class' at an orphanage in Somalia that houses the children of martyred police officers. TİKA launched this meaningful educational project in honor of the children of Somalia's fallen police officers. Named after July 15 Martyr Ömer Halisdemir, the Turkish language class was inaugurated during a ceremony at an orphanage in the capital, Mogadishu. The opening was held as part of the July 15 Democracy and National Unity Day commemoration program, organized by the Embassy of the Republic of Türkiye in Mogadishu. The ceremony was attended by Somali Minister of Internal Security, Abdullahi Sheikh Ismael (Fartaag); Minister of Defense, Ahmed Moalim Fiqi; Army Commander Brigadier General Sahal Abdullahi Omar; Somali Police Force Commander, Major General Asad Osman Abdullahi; and Türkiye's Ambassador to Mogadishu, Alper Aktaş. Also in attendance were the ambassadors of Qatar, Sudan, and Kenya, along with the Permanent Representative of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation to Somalia, Ambassador Mohamed Bamba. The 'Martyr Ömer Halisdemir Turkish Language Class' aims to honor the national spirit of July 15, preserve the memory of a heroic martyr through education, and provide Somali students with the opportunity to learn Turkish. Turkish language instruction in the classroom will be provided by Yunus Emre Institute, enabling students to become more familiar with the Turkish language and culture and gain an advantage when pursuing educational opportunities in Türkiye. Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA).
Russia Today
9 hours ago
- Politics
- Russia Today
African state rejects neighbor's request to join naval drills
Somalia has rejected a request from Ethiopia to participate in joint naval exercises within its territorial waters, citing concerns over potential violations of international maritime law and threats to its sovereignty, local media reported Monday. Ethiopia reportedly expressed interest in the drills at a recent regional meeting in Addis Ababa and submitted a proposal to deploy naval personnel under an African Union-led peacekeeping mission in Somalia. The plan, announced at last week's Eastern Africa Standby Force summit in Mogadishu, has been seen by Somali officials as part of the landlocked country's push to secure a foothold in regional waters. 'We do not accept a landlocked country conducting military operations in our waters,' Somali Defense Minister Ahmed Moallim Fiqi said, according to the Garowe Online news outlet. 'Somalia has full control over its land, air and sea. Any move by Ethiopia to participate in unauthorized naval exercises is contrary to international maritime law and Somalia's national laws,' the minister added. Ethiopia's bid to secure Red Sea access has been a source of regional tensions, including a dispute last year with Somalia over a maritime deal signed with the breakaway region of Somaliland. Mogadishu condemned the agreement, which would allow Ethiopia to build a naval base at the port of Berbera, as an act of 'aggression' and a threat to its sovereignty. Mogadishu considers Somaliland part of its territory, despite the region's declaration of de facto independence in 1991. In response to the January 2024 pact, the Somali government expelled Ethiopia's ambassador, ordered the closure of two consulates, and recalled its representative from Addis Ababa. Relations between the two Horn of Africa nations had only recently begun to improve, following talks mediated by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in December. During the Ankara negotiations, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud agreed to restore diplomatic ties. Both leaders exchanged working visits after pledging to reach a deal that would uphold Somalia's territorial integrity while granting Ethiopia access to the sea.
Arab News
a day ago
- Health
- Arab News
KSrelief extends support to 5 nations in need
RIYADH: The Saudi aid agency KSrelief is continuing to make a significant global impact by providing critical assistance to some of the world's most vulnerable communities. The agency has launched a voluntary medical project for adult cardiac surgery and catheterization in Yemen's Aden governorate, in cooperation with the Saudi Development and Reconstruction Program for Yemen. Running until July 27, the project is set to perform 65 catheterizations and 30 surgeries, the Saudi Press Agency reported on Monday. KSrelief in Somalia has distributed 130 shelter kits, 100 clothing kits, and 10 tents to 1,440 people in 240 families in Baki camp in the Awdal region. The Saudi aid agency in Sudan has distributed 800 food baskets to families returning from displacement in Al-Jazirah state, helping 5,036 people. In Afghanistan, 90 food baskets have been distributed at Omari camp near the Torkham border, helping 540 Afghan returnees from Pakistan. In addition, KSrelief in the Syrian Arab Republic continues to help families affected by fires in Latakia, and has distributed shelter kits to 1,500 families. Since its launch in May 2015, KSrelief has implemented 3,602 projects worth more than $8.1 billion across 108 countries, in partnership with more than 323 organizations.
Times
4 days ago
- General
- Times
After freezing dead Somali pirates running ports company will be plain sailing
Clearing a food freezer for the bodies of dead pirates isn't a typical day at work for most people. For Captain Susan Cloggie-Holden, it was a grim necessity while sailing off Somalia, and just one of many 'salty sea tales' from a career that has taken her around the world. A passion for messing about in small boats on the River Clyde as a teenager morphed into supporting peacekeeping operations in hostile seas, as well as being chased by elephant seals on a remote island in the South Atlantic. Thankfully the 42-year-old did not inherit the seasickness that made her father feel queasy, even when using the Renfrew ferry. Cloggie-Holden has just become the first woman to be group harbour master at Peel Ports Group after a decorated career in the Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA). In the RFA she was also the first female to become a commanding officer when in 2021 she took charge of Tiderace, a replenishment tanker for Royal Navy warships. Raised in the Drumchapel area of Glasgow, Cloggie-Holden found her calling when she joined the Sea Cadets in Clydebank. 'Pretty much every summer I used to spend on boats somewhere,' she said. 'I think I gave my parents an easy ride because they didn't see me all summer, I'd come home, get my washing done, pack my bag and go off again.' A two-week stint on the tall ship Stavros S Niarchos as it sailed from Greenock to Aberdeen cemented her ocean ambitions. By her fifth year at Bearsden Academy she had decided against university and was set on going to Glasgow College of Nautical Studies to prepare for a life on the waves. The choice between Royal Navy and merchant navy came down to practicalities. 'I'll be honest I don't like sharing toilets and showers, I quite like my own space,' Cloggie-Holden said. 'I spent about three days on HMS Somerset and absolutely hated every minute of it because there was 27 people sharing the same space and I had a locker the size of a kitchen drawer. 'So I thought maybe I don't really want to live like this.' While the RFA is staffed by civilians it provides support to the navy and its vessels have defensive weapons. Cloggie-Holden was on ships that supported operations against the Taliban in 2001-02, worked with the Iraqi navy in 2006-07, engaged in counter-piracy off Somalia in 2008-09 and supplied Royal Navy vessels off the coast of Libya in 2011. In the Gulf of Aden, between Yemen and Somalia, she was tasked with communicating with vessels that were being approached by pirates. 'They used to attack at sunrise and sunset and we found that having a female voice on the other side of the [radio] was actually quite calming for the crew of the merchant vessels,' she said. 'I used to chat to them, tell them what to do, how to evade the pirates. 'One of the warships that was out there, they boarded a vessel and the pirates basically pointed guns at them. The Royal Marines, as you can imagine, don't like having guns pointed at them. 'We ended up taking the pirates on board, we had two dead ones and nine living ones on the ship and took them into Kenya. 'I was telling someone the other day, we just had to clear the freezer and put two pirates in it and then we had to do a burial at sea.' Cloggie-Holden acknowledges life at sea can be dangerous, but says one trip, from Plymouth to Florida, in December 2011 was her worst. She said: 'We got absolutely battered. We had a storm from pretty much every direction as we crossed the Atlantic. 'We were taking damage, a wave came over our poop deck and ripped loads of guardrails off, we lost some mooring lines, it flooded a few cabins, we lost our port-side navigation lights one night. 'Nothing got done on that ship on the way across, we just had to protect our people and get across there as quickly as possible. 'It's probably the only time at sea that I thought 'this is a little bit hairy, this is not very comfortable'.' Travelling the world, Cloggie-Holden often came up-close-and-personal with wild animals in their natural habitat. While sailing around the island of South Georgia, she and her crew saw penguins and were chased by elephant seals. 'I think when you're at sea you see things that you take for granted,' she said. 'More stars than you will ever see when there's any sort of light pollution. Just sitting on a flight deck at midnight you see that sort of stuff — like dolphins, whales, flying fish, plankton blooms.' The maritime industry is still very male dominated — one report by the International Maritime Organisation suggests women account for just 1 per cent of seafarers. But Cloggie-Holden is working to change that. In 2021 she received the Merchant Navy Medal for her efforts to improve the gender balance in the industry. Cloggie-Holden says she had to work harder to prove herself in her early days. One incident, when a senior colleague made a lewd comment in a bar suggesting her most recent promotion was because she was a woman, stands out. 'I said 'you can do one',' she recalls and there was an apology to her about the incident the following morning. But the onlookers in the bar who didn't know her might have taken the words as true and 'that's the comment that females at sea don't need'. Having achieved the dream of becoming a captain of a vessel her more recent RFA work included being captain of port operations. That meant auditing ports around the world where the Ministry of Defence has an interest and the switch opened up the possibility of more time spent on dry land. There was also a 'huge' change going on in her personal life at that time, as her husband Peter Holden, a retired RFA captain who previously commanded the helicopter training vessel Argus, became seriously ill with cancer. He died in February and Cloggie-Holden said: 'He knew I was coming here [to Peel Ports]. 'He said it's the best decision you've ever made, and actually I had a new adventure ahead of me.' The Peel Ports role, where she will oversee the operations at Clydeport on the River Clyde, the Port of Liverpool and London Medway, is exactly that, an adventure. As the person in charge of all maritime operations such as vessel traffic, navigation, safety, security, harbour services and pilotage it is not going to be a 'cushy nine to five job'. 'I've got enough working life left in me that this is a second career. I've had my career at sea, this is now my career in ports,' she says. Outside work she has taken up curling and is soon to try padel. She added: 'I've decided in life since I started with Peel, since I lost Peter that I'm just not going to say no to anything new. 'So when someone says 'Do you want to go and do that?' Yeah, let's do it.'
Zawya
4 days ago
- Business
- Zawya
Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TİKA) Supports Vocational Training in Somalia
Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TİKA) has provided equipment for carpentry and plumbing workshops at the National Skills Development and Vocational Training Institute in Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia. Originally established in 1984, the institute was forced to suspend its activities in 2009 due to terrorist incidents in the country. It resumed operations in 2022 under the Somali Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs. However, over the years, the institution had suffered a significant decline in capacity and was only able to offer limited vocational training due to insufficient infrastructure and a lack of technical equipment. Thanks to the carpentry and plumbing workshop equipment supplied by TİKA, the institute's practical training capacity has been substantially improved. The project aims not only to strengthen vocational training infrastructure but also to help develop a skilled workforce, thereby creating new employment opportunities. Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA).
