By: Ahmed Abdi Daar
UPSALA/SWEDEN (Somalilandsun) -Turkey is no doubt a world power. The press releases of its Ministry of foreign Affairs and the statements of its institute for reconciliation bear very significant weight. Just about a few days prior to the start of the so-called ‘ Somali reconciliation talks’ between Somaliland and Somalia in Istanbul on April 11, 2013, Turkey made it clear that it is exerting its weight in favor of what is termed as ‘Somali unity’.
The idea of Somali unity intentionally contradicts the wish of the Somaliland people who are not only denied their rightful diplomatic recognition but are being cheated to get into talks with non-existent Somalia to finish off their quest for full sovereignty. Turkey justifies its involvement in Somaliland affairs on the excuse that it is a bridge country between the West and the Moslem world. We regard that it is improper for a bigger Islamic country to flex its muscles against a weaker society and to sub-contract the trial operation to terminate its cause. The indirect anti Somaliland Turkish pronouncements have already tarnished Turkish hopes to act as an unbiased middleman.
We interpret the pro Somali unity position of Turkey as nothing less than a blatant negation of its role as a mediator. It gives the impression that Turkey is acting as an undisguised bully boy to whip the Somaliland leadership back into union with Somalia on behalf of other powers behind that sinister cause. The leadership of Turkey must be one hundred per cent off the mark if it thinks that the people of Somaliland will give up their goal of attaining full sovereignty on the grounds that Turkey is a brotherly Moslem country insisting on Somali unity for Islam’s sake. We do not relate to other countries on the grounds that one is a Moslem and another is a non-Moslem. We have our choices based on political subjectivity.
Our Moslem, Somali brethren, which Turkey is working hard to re-runite with us had bombed us out of the union, with half dozen fighter jets piloted by white mercenaries and with all types of heavy weaponry paid with Moslem Arab money. Where were then the Moslem countries including Turkey in our hour of dire need? None has raised a finger to stop Siad Barre’s aggressive genocide against us. Men like Saddam Hussein, Kadafi and nearly all Arab countries rallied after Siad Barre against us for no comprehensible reason.
Only Christian Ethiopia has thankfully received our hapless refugees, and provided us with badly needed shelter and other life supporting amenities. (We also thank a number of European countries, including Sweden which also received some of our far flung refugees.)
We lost hundreds of thousands of innocent men, women and children butchered in the most horrendous methods. Whole cities where reduced to rubble, we defended ourselves singlehandedly and won both the war and the peace, which we so jealously guard-
Many of us survived the gauntlet, rose from the ashes in a Phoenix fashion, succeeded to build a viable state on very legal foundations, but, to our surprise, we again were denied our rightful recognition. Most astonishing of all, some countries, since recently including Turkey, are laboring hard to get us into what is termed as a loose federation with Somalia. We are perplexed what interest is there to make us acquiesce to a federation with Somalia? (In passing, I pose this question to the Turkish leadership: Why would we reunite with smoldering Somalia against the wish of our own people? Would you give ride in your new Mercedes to a hitchhiker in flames in exchange of some small promises of re-servicing your car after it caught fire?)
The answer needs elaboratation: No recognition is preferable to us to a humiliating re-marriage with Somalia. We should make it clear that any type of federation with Somalia means our total demise, or at best it means the biggest irreparable ignominy and the worst humiliation to eternity that any one of us could tolerate to live under even for a single hour. We have promised our future generations to inherit a sovereign republic of their own and we are determined to keep our word to them at any cost.
The least informed person about Somali matters anywhere in the world knows that there is no Somalia today which merits to be called a country in the true sense of the word. Somalia remains to be deeply fractured, seriously ailing and highly disjointed pieces which are incapable to reassemble as a coherent country despite the mouth-to-mouth resuscitations of the occupying army of soldiers and countries. Half-sovereign Somalia is unable to determine its own fate freely; Somalia’s invented government and its so-called president exist only in semantics. The ‘president’ of Somalia is more capable of incessantly flying to world capitals, including London and Istanbul, than the closest city quarter in the neighborhood of his ‘presidential palace’ which is ringed with foreign armoured men and tanks in his debilitated capital. He, too, cannot decide the fate of his own people and country. Yet the Somalia in that pitiful situation and its regrettable government, which pair do not deserve nothing but pity, are being assisted to obtain or wed with Somaliland! It is curious to ask: on what grounds do they merit such assistance? Are we wrong, Sir, to say: No way? Never again, come what may.
The ‘president of Somalia’ can not in any way be original. Since when has Somalia become the opposite of a ‘failed state’ with a president and other functioning government organs to put together an anti-Somaliland operational policy to demand the return of Somaliland to a re-union with it? There are other forces, pulling the strings from behind the curtain. The unoriginal president of non-existent Somalia simply echoes words put into his mouth by the former cronies of Siad Barre and some of their international friends, who do not have the audacity to expose themselves, to counter the elected President and government of the hitherto unrecognized Republic of Somaliland. Turkey must be aware of what is happening and rise to defend the just cause of the people of Somaliland.
We happen to have high regard of Turkey; but it is a disgrace that Turkey would sacrifice its excellent reputation with the people of Somaliland to come against their cause in favor of the wrongful blatant effort to undo the Republic of Somaliland. Europe has first accepted the breakup of the former Yugoslavia, and later admitted the pieces as sovereign countries into the European Union. The Republic of Somaliland, which boasts of more solid grounds to qualify for a country definition, is grooming for the sensible world to be admitted to the United Nations parallel with Somalia, not instead of it. Turkey must be very familiar with how frustrating it is to be wrongfully obstructed from the EU and that the part of Cyprus it occupied is denied international recognition. (In our case we don’t get frustrated with the denial of recognition: it rather helps to cement our determination every more.)
We are kindly asking Turkey not only to cease the rhetoric of ‘Somali unity’, an affront to Somalilanders, but either to have the bravery to recognize the Republic of Somaliland in defiance of the anti-Somaliland forces behind the curtains, or to leave it all alone. No amount of carrot-colored sticks could herd Somalilanders back to the den where the innocent bones of a quarter of their loved ones are half-buried. Doing away with Somaliland, God forbid, might amount to doing away with peace in the Horn of Africa, the adjoining region and perhaps beyond.
Ahmed.daar@gmail.com
Uppsala, Sweden
