10.09.2024, 21:42
Zitat:Turkey Wants Ballistic Missile Test Range, Spaceport in Somalia
By Selcan Hacaoglu
September 10, 2024 at 6:12AM EDT
(Bloomberg) -- Turkey has held talks with Somalia about setting up a site to test-fire missiles and space rockets from the Horn of Africa country, according to people familiar with the matter.
Ankara’s ballistic-missile program requires long-range testing and Somalia’s location on the eastern tip of mainland Africa is ideal for firing toward the Indian Ocean, said the people, who asked not to be identified discussing sensitive subjects. The country is close to the equator, making it a suitable site for a space port, they said. Testing near the equator can also help boost the range and efficiency of space rockets.
ADVERTISEMENT
Turkey has long aspired to join a space race traditionally dominated by global powers, and plans to launch a rocket have been underway for some years. That could potentially be fired from Somalia, the people said. Turkish officials are confident Somalia will agree to its request, the people said. Turkey’s defense ministry declined to comment.
Hussein Sheikh-Ali, national security adviser to Somalia’s President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, declined to comment when contacted by phone on Tuesday. The chairman of the parliamentary sub-committee on defense, Abdi Ahmed Koshin, said he was unaware of any such agreement with Turkey.
Turkey has been working on increasing the range of its domestically-built Tayfun missiles from about 560 kilometers (350 miles), President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in 2022. A Somalia launch site would remove the risk of debris falling into residential areas and other countries, the people said.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/...n-somalia/