Turkey is planning to send warships to Somali waters to protect an energy research vessel, Middle East Eye told two sources familiar with the matter.
According to the agreement signed between Turkey and Somalia earlier this year, Ankara is allowed to protect Somalia’s waters from external threats, as well as to give it the right to explore and drill for energy resources in Somalia’s exclusive economic zone.
Turkish Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar told the Turkish media last week that Turkish Oil has a license for three sites in the Somali Sea, each site is 5,000 km in circumference.
Bayraktar added that Oruc Reis will conduct a 3D seismic study of the area, “which has never been done before”.
He also said that the Turkish Navy will protect the ship. Sources familiar with the matter say that Ankara plans to deploy two ships and an additional aid ship to secure the area.
“This is the first time that a Turkish research vessel is operating in Somali waters,” he told Middle East Eye. “The ship must be protected from pirates as well as other possible land threats.”
Tunc Demirtas, an analyst of African affairs at the Seta research center, said that Ankara is carefully guarding the ship because it will operate in the open sea.
