Turkish airlines begins flights to Somalia

Turkish Airline's Flight TK 686 to Somalia touched down to local fanfare Tuesday morning in what was the first voyage by a major commercial airline to the war ravaged country in more than 20 years.

Turkey's deputy prime minister Bekir Bozdağ led a delegation of government officials and businessmen off the plane as the national carrier followed through on a government announcement last month that it would operate regular flights to Mogadishu.

The airline, which flies to 146 other destinations, says it will run twice-weekly flights from Istanbul to the Somali capital, with a stopover in Khartoum, Sudan.

Somalia has been without a functioning central government since early 1991 when Gen Siad Barre's regime was ousted by a rebel group known as the United Somali Congress.

Major airlines such as Saudi Airlines, Kenya Airways, South Yemen's Al-Yemda and Aeroflot then halted scheduled flights. Others such as Alitalia and Egypt Air had earlier suspended flights while Germany's Lufthansa and other carriers resorted to mainly cargo operations.

Most flights to the country have been by small commercial firms and aid groups operating in the region, mainly out of Kenya.
Mr Bozdağ was received by high-level Somali officials President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed and Speaker of the Parliament, Sharif Hassan Aden.

International diplomats led by Dr Augustine Mahiga, the Special Envoy of the UN Secretary General to Somalia were also at the seafront airport of Aden Adde to mark the occasion.

The airport and roads to the airport were lined with Somali and Turkish flags, while billboards and other advertisement materials in Somalia language had also been erected.

Security had been visibly heightened with barriers on main roads to the airport erected by heavily armed troops.

Somali residents have welcomed the flights and say their relatives in the diaspora will find it easier to visit the recovering country that has seen former colonial powers Italy and Britain seek to open diplomatic offices in the country.

The UN has also moved its Political Office for Somalia (UNPOS) from Nairobi to Mogadishu as pro-government troops and African Union peacekeepers push out militant groups such as Al-Shabaab.

"Everybody is talking about Turkish Airlines," French news agency AFP quoted Mogadishu resident Hidig Ali, as saying.

"This is a big deal, as it can help many people outside the country to come back and see their homeland and family."

The Turkish deputy premier will open the carrier's Mogadishu office and also initiate a raft of development projects as it shores up its burgeoning relationship with the Horn of Africa country that threatens to eclipse that of other Muslim countries such as Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Iraq.

Turkish experts are also building a modern control tower and other supporting infrastructure at the airport including a runway.
Currently, Turkey is Somalia's largest development partner and has been active since last year in humanitarian programmes in the war and drought-ravaged country of an estimated nine million.