Turkish Aid Welcomed by al Shabaab in Somali Drought

Turkish Aid Officials Meet with Al-Shabaab leaders this week.

Somali officials welcomed a delegation from Turkey as a Turkish ship carrying 250 tons of food aid for drought affected Somalis arrived in Mogadishu’s sea port and Turkish relief officials met with al-Shabaab in Lower Shabelle.

The head of the Turkish Humanitarian Aid Foundation (IHH), Sardash Jam, his deputy, Mr. Murad, and the head of the Turkish Airways, Dr. Jampl Kutiki, along with 210 other Turkish delegates arrived at Mogadishu’s Aden Adde International Airport.

• “We have decided to help our brothers and sisters who have been crippled by prolonged drought and war in the recent years. 
• We know that many internally displaced families were coming here to Mogadishu from the neighboring regions of Bay, Bakol and Lower Shabelle where famine has been reported,” said IHH Chairman Sardash Jam.
• Somalia’s Prime Minister Dr. Abdiwali Mohamed Ali welcomed the Turkish delegates at the airport and then traveled with some of them to witness the arrival of supplies, including food aid, medical equipment, tents, blankets at the sea port.
• “On behalf of Somali government, I would like to thank the Turkish government leaders, including Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan who has already visited Mogadishu while accompanied by a large delegation from his country,” said the prime minister at the sea port.
• He added that the Somalis are grateful to their 'unforgettable Turkish brothers and sister' for their committed support.
• Dr. Jampl Kutiki promised that Turkish planes, like Turkish Airways, will continue to travel into Mogadishu.

Turkish officials reach al-Shabaab areas

Meanwhile reliable information obtained by Somalia Report confirmed late on Monday that the IHH Deputy Chairman, Mr. Murad, along with 2 other Turkish officials have reached al-Shabaab controlled N50 IDPs camp Aala-Yasir in the Lower Shabelle region.

• Source confirmed that the Turks met with al-Shabaab official, Sheekh Hassan Abu- Ayman, who is responsible for the Bay and Bakol regions.
• The Turkish members moved from government controlled areas of Mogadishu through Sarkuusta Checkpoint near the Ex-control Checkpoint in the southwest area of the capital. Somali government troops reportedly escorted the Turkish delegates until they reached Sarkuusta.
• From there the Turkish delegates managed to travel into the rebel held areas. 
• According to the same source, the Turkish aid workers were escorted by a large, armed convoy believed to be carrying some al-Shabaab fighters.

The IHH members are reportedly in the al-Shabaab camps to observe, but sources told Somalia Report that the members addressed hundreds of IDPs at the Aala-Yasir camp.

Al-Shabaab has not officially commented on the trip.

The Rest @ Somalia Report

Turkish Pistols Bound for Yemen Caputures in Dubai

Dubai police have seized 16,000 Turkish-made pistols hidden in a sea cargo shipment bound for Yemen, officials said Thursday. Authorities said the guns were headed to Yemen's restive Saada region, where Shiite rebels have fought government forces for years. Dubai's government described the find as the largest arms shipment of its kind discovered in the region. Lt. Gen. Dahi Khalfan Tamim, Dubai's police chief, said authorities found the weapons in a red cargo shipping container, hidden behind boxes of furniture wrapped in plastic in a Dubai warehouse about two weeks ago. Police showed photos and a video of thousands of metallic black, silver and gold colored handguns laid out on a concrete parking lot. It was unclear who ordered the shipment. Tamim told reporters it was unlikely the weapons were destined for the Yemeni government because they were counterfeit knockoffs of legitimate brands. He speculated that they might have been bound for Hawthi rebels, a group of Shiite tribesmen that has waged an on-and-off struggle against the government for the last six years. They also could have been ordered by middlemen who planned to sell them one by one, he said. The central government in the capital Sanaa is struggling to exert its authority over Yemen's remote provinces, providing fertile ground for smugglers, al-Qaida militants and other criminals to operate. Tamim said Yemen had a market for illegal firearms. "If you want to sell it, people will buy," he said.

• The shipment originated in Turkey and passed through an Egyptian port before reaching Dubai's Jebel Ali port, police said.


• The smugglers had intended to transport the weapons through another Gulf country instead of Dubai but changed their plans to secure a more convenient shipping route, police said.


• Tamim declined to name the other Gulf country meant to serve as a transport point but said it wasn't Saudi Arabia.


• He said a number of suspects have been arrested with help from the countries involved.

Jebel Ali is by far the busiest port in the Middle East. It and other Dubai docks serve as major transshipment hubs for cargo traveling between Asia, Europe, Africa and the rest of the Middle East.

Yemen has been embroiled in a month of protests seeking to oust President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who has ruled for 32 years. A government crackdown on the opposition has killed dozens. Saleh has been under American pressure to curb weapons trafficking in Yemen, where al-Qaida is known to operate.

Emirati authorities last year intercepted one of two mail bombs sent from Yemen to the U.S. in a cargo shipment transiting through Dubai. The other was discovered in Britain.

The Rest @ SIFY News

Kurdistan Turkey Conflict

Nur al-cubicle is a blogsite I have been reading for sometime. I cannot vouch for the reliability of the datasource, she claims to live in Florida and read Italian and French news sources. But he/she reported the following:

• However, Kurdistan President Massoud Barzani has rejected Ankara's conditions last Wednesday
• 600 Turkish commandos, supported by regular Army units and originating from the Turkish town of Cukurca, penetrated 3 kilometers into Kurdistan
• Another 200 regular troops occupied a hilltop in the Iraqi Kurd region of Sizeri
• The Turks have established security zones in the frontier provinces of Sirnak, Siirt and Hakkari through 9 September

Again I cannot vouch for the data, but it is an interesting report none the less.