Hassan Mohamud

Türkiye is set to begin onshore oil and natural gas exploration in Somalia thanks to a new agreement between Turkish Petroleum Corporation (TPAO) and Somali Petroleum Authority, Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar has announced.

Turkish research vessel Oruç Reis has arrived off the coast of Somalia to conduct seismic surveys for oil and natural gas, Turkish Energy and Natural Resources Minister Alparslan Bayraktar announced on Oct. 25.

"Oruç Reis has reached its mission location after its journey across continents," Bayraktar shared on X.

Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan brought his counterparts from Ethiopia and Somalia together once again in the Turkish capital as part of Ankara's efforts to resolve the problems between the two African neighboring states.

Fidan met with Ethiopia Foreign Minister Taye Atske Selassie and Somali Foreign Minister Ahmed Moallim Fiqi separately on Aug. 12 before a trilateral meeting.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan spoke over the phone on Sunday with his Somali counterpart Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, discussing tensions between the African country and its neighbor Ethiopia.

The number of people killed in twin car bombings in the Somali capital Mogadishu, claimed by Al-Shabaab Islamists, has risen to 100, President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud said on Sunday.

"So far, the number of people who died has reached 100 and 300 are wounded, and the number for both the death and wounded continues to increase," he said after visiting the blast location.

Somalis anxiously waited to know the fate of their missing relatives on Sunday as emergency workers attempted to clear debris after a deadly 30-hour siege by Al-Shabaab jihadists at a hotel in the capital Mogadishu.

At least eight civilians have been killed in a militant attack on a popular hotel in the Somali capital, an official said on Aug. 20, as security forces continued to battle gunmen barricaded inside.

Fighters from the Al-Qaeda-linked Al-Shabaab stormed the Hayat Hotel in Mogadishu on Friday evening in a hail of gunfire and bomb blasts, trapping scores of people.

Somalia's president on July 6 called for assistance from Türkiye to combat the effects of severe drought that is threatening the Horn of Africa.

Hassan Sheikh Mohamud made the comments during his first visit to Türkiye since returning to office following an election in May. The two countries have forged close ties over the past decade.

Somalia has announced it had awarded licences to two foreign banks, including Türkiye's participatin bank Ziraat Katılım, as the nation opens up the industry to international lenders.

Ziraat Katılım and state-owned Banque Misr of Egypt and will become the first international banks to operate in the country, Somalia's Central Bank said in a statement.