Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan emphasized the intense efforts made to attract global attention to Somalia’s plight, stating, “We sincerely conveyed the poverty drama in Somalia to every country and official we could reach. On every international platform, we exposed Somalia’s troubles as if they were our own, in all their starkness and rawness.”
Speaking at the 2nd Istanbul Somali Conference held at the Istanbul Congress Center, Erdoğan thanked all attending heads of state and government, the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, and representatives of national and international organizations.
He noted that the conference brought together not only distinguished international representatives but also all segments of Somali society, including the Somali President, Parliament Speaker, Prime Minister, ministers, various leaders representing Somali groups, respected elders known as “Ak Sakallılar,” intellectuals, civil society, and diaspora representatives. Erdoğan expressed special pleasure at the participation of Somaliland’s president and delegation, wishing them to return to Somalia filled with hope.
Recalling his visit to Mogadishu last August with his wife Emine Erdoğan, family members, ministers, MPs, leaders of various institutions, businessmen, artists, journalists, writers, and civil society representatives, Erdoğan said:
“We had the chance to see firsthand the problems, the drama, and the suffering endured in Mogadishu. Throughout history, Turkey has always maintained communication and cooperation with Africa and has closely cared for our Somali brothers and sisters. But the recent famine revealed the dire need to do more than just show concern — it called for action from the heart.
Before and after our Mogadishu visit, we worked intensively to draw the world’s attention to Somalia. We sincerely communicated Somalia’s poverty drama to every country and official we could reach. On every international platform, we exposed Somalia’s struggles as if they were our own, fully and openly.
For those who have never seen Somalia, who do not want to see it, who cannot feel what is happening there, we have struggled wholeheartedly to raise Somalia’s voice and cries.”
“Children Have No Nationality”
Erdoğan acknowledged that it might be difficult for those who have never been to Somalia to understand the gravity of the situation.
“In the very heart of the capital, tens of thousands of families live in tents. Not the kind of tents you know — these are structures made from three or four branches tied together and covered with plastic bags, which become a luxury shelter for a family of three to five people. Yet thousands of families do not even have these shelters.
Due to various problems, infrastructure investments cannot be realized. Aid cannot reach the entire population, and security issues prevent aid organizations from accessing all who need help.”
Erdoğan described witnessing firsthand how children and their parents in these tents struggle not only with health needs but even to meet daily nutritional requirements.
As expressed at the Istanbul Summit of the Alliance of Civilizations, Erdoğan stated, “Children have no race or nationality. They do not have the right to choose their skin color, language, religion, or the country they will live in.
Somali children, despite having no responsibilities in the current situation, carry the whole world’s burden on their tiny shoulders. I am not talking about toys, medicine, books, notebooks, or pens — these children go to sleep without eating even three to five grains of rice or a bite of bread. Unfortunately, some do not wake up in the morning.
Those children in the tents, whose tiny hands you can touch and whose eyes show deep sorrow, cannot sleep peacefully at night while waiting there.”
Erdoğan recounted seeing a small child made of skin and bone in a tent where doctors intervened during his visit, and he later heard the child had died while being taken to the hospital.
