Turkish Airlines begins
flights to Somalia
The first major
commercial airline in more than 20 years has landed at Mogadishu
airport in war-torn Somalia.
Turkish Airlines says it is the start of a regular service to the Somali
capital, the first by an international carrier from outside East
Africa. Turkey's
Deputy Prime Minister Bekir Bosdag was on board the flight, which was welcomed
by the Somali president.
The
twice-weekly flights should make travel easier for Somali businessmen and
members of the large diaspora.
Somalia has not had a functioning central
government for more than two decades and has been riven by factional fighting.
Islamist
militants were pushed out of the capital by Africa Union and government forces
last August - although they have continued to stage attacks in the city.
The
plane was greeted by a large Somali government delegation, including President
Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, as well as UN officials and ambassadors.
"Today
is a big day for Somalia,"
Somali government spokesperson, Abdisalam Mohamud, said, according to the BBC.
The
flight follows a visit to Mogadishu
last year by the Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan - who said he
wanted to challenge the idea that the Somali capital was a no-go area.
The
start of the service was announced by Turkey's
foreign minister during last month's international conference on Somalia in London
hosted by the UK
government.
World
leaders have pledged to boost support for measures to fight piracy, terrorism
and political stability in Somalia
by substantially increasing international funding for the African Union
military operation in the country and working more closely together.
AfricaNews Monitoring Team with
files from BBC
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