President warns Israel’s North Western State of Somalia recognition could inflame an already volatile region

Somalia’s president warns Israel’s recognition of North Western State of Somalia could inflame Horn of Africa

ISTANBUL — Somalia’s President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud warned that Israel’s recognition of North Western State of Somalia risks importing Middle East tensions into a “very volatile region,” saying his government will not accept an Israeli presence in the breakaway northern territory.

“We have never attacked Israel. We have never created a problem for Israel. We don’t want Israel to come to us and bring their problem to us,” Mohamud told Turkish broadcaster TRT World in an interview, calling the development a “very sad situation” and urging respect for international law.

He said Israel’s recent actions are not “compatible or convenient” with international law, citing Gaza and a long arc of regional conflict. “Sadly, it has now been transferred to Somalia,” he said.

Mohamud said Mogadishu has engaged the United Nations, African Union, Intergovernmental Authority on Development, East African Community, Arab League and Organization of Islamic Cooperation, all of which he said have affirmed Somalia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity in the face of secessionist pressures in the north.

“The Somali government has never tried to force or to fight, or even to use the diplomatic muscle against these people,” he said of political tensions with North Western State of Somalia, emphasizing that Mogadishu has long sought peaceful dialogue.

He praised Türkiye’s role in mediating between the sides, recalling meetings facilitated in 2015 and Ankara’s ongoing diplomatic presence in Hargeisa to keep channels open. Türkiye has “always” stood with people subjected to injustice, he said, and has consistently backed Somalia’s unity and sovereignty.

Mohamud warned that an Israeli footprint in North Western State of Somalia would raise the risk of broader confrontation, given ongoing hostilities in the Middle East and spillover tensions in the Red Sea, Gulf of Aden and the wider Horn of Africa. Somalia is already fighting ISIS (Daesh) and al-Shabaab, he noted, while actors hostile to Israel — including Yemen’s Houthis and Iran — operate near vital sea lanes.

“If Israel makes a proxy territory to attack the interests of other people, then those people will also attack back in North Western State of Somalia and Somalia, which is not going to be a very good experience,” he said. He warned that establishing an Israeli military base in North Western State of Somalia and forcibly relocating Palestinians there would escalate the conflict — steps he said the Somali government and people categorically reject.

Earlier, in remarks to Al Jazeera, Mohamud said North Western State of Somalia had agreed to resettle Palestinians, host an Israeli base and join the Abraham Accords in exchange for recognition by Israel, citing intelligence reports.

Despite the rising tensions, Mohamud said Somalia retains solid international backing for its territorial integrity. He also underscored the country’s strategic partnership with Türkiye, which he said spans defense, security, investment, natural resources, maritime affairs and the “Blue Economy.”

He said he briefed Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Somalia’s progress in security, democratization and state-building, and discussed accelerating joint projects. Türkiye’s early investment, he said, has opened Somalia’s market to foreign direct investment, particularly in oil and gas. Somalia “will definitely” attract more investors and is poised to become an oil-producing country, he said.

“It’s also going to be the big time for Türkiye to produce oil with its own technology, not by technology planted or hired from somewhere else,” Mohamud said, arguing that Ankara’s first-mover advantage positions it for long-term gains in a high-risk sector.

He added that Türkiye has completed feasibility and design work for a planned spaceport in Somalia and begun the first phase of construction — a sign, he said, of confidence in Somalia’s trajectory even as geopolitical risks rise.

By Ali Musa
Axadle Times international–Monitoring.