Erdogan's visit to Somalia in 2011 was a turning point in country's history: Somali minister

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s visit to Somalia in 2011 was a historic turning point that changed the country's destiny, a Somali minister has said.

Somalia's Minister of Ports and Maritime Transport Abdulkadir Mohamed Nur told Anadolu in an interview that Erdogan’s visit in August 2011 occurred during one of the most difficult periods Somalia has experienced since the collapse of its state structure in 1990.

Erdogan's visit to Mogadishu with his wife Emine Erdogan, children, and ministers is remembered as an unforgettable day in Somalia, which was then struggling with the most severe drought in its history, Nur said.

Somali officials say this visit is a turning point in bringing the country out of isolation and onto the international community's agenda, elevating Turkish-Somali relations to a strategic level.

Nur stated that Somalia, which had seemed abandoned since the collapse of the state in 1990, experienced one of its worst droughts in history.

"In those days, Somalia was a country isolated from the world and without aid. When President Erdogan, along with his cabinet, family, and all his officials, arrived in Somalia, a turning point occurred. Not only did the Turkish people receive aid, but the entire world's attention was focused on Somalia," he noted.