MOGADISHU, Somalia/ISTANBUL

Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud officially inaugurated a welcoming ceremony on Friday for Türkiye’s seismic exploration vessel, Oruc Reis, as it docked at Mogadishu seaport for its mission to explore oil and natural gas off Somalia’s coast.

The Oruc Reis, which embarked from Türkiye in late September, arrived accompanied by Turkish navy ships.

President Mohamud, Prime Minister Hamza Abdi Barre, and other senior government officials, including ministers and lawmakers, were present at the event. Turkish Energy and Natural Resources Minister Alparslan Bayraktar also attended the ceremony along with a Turkish delegation.

“Somalia has never had a better opportunity than the one we have today,” said Mohamud during the ceremony, calling it “a historic day for Somalia.”

He praised Türkiye’s continuous support, recalling how Turkish aid saved lives during Somalia's 2010-2012 famine and how then-Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan visited the country when others saw it as a no-go zone.

The Oruc Reis is set to conduct three-dimensional seismic studies in Somali waters, gathering data for oil and natural gas exploration over a period of approximately six to seven months. This data will be analyzed in Ankara to identify potential drilling sites.

The mission is part of a broader cooperation between Türkiye and Somalia, following earlier agreements that granted Turkish Petroleum licenses for three offshore areas, each covering roughly 5,000 square kilometers.

Growing relationship with Somalia

At the welcoming ceremony, Turkish Minister Bayraktar highlighted Türkiye’s growing partnership with Somalia.

"We want to contribute to the welfare of the Somali people and strengthen our friendship by investing not only in oil and gas but also in the mining and electricity sectors," Bayraktar said.

The Turkish minister also shared that Türkiye and Somalia recently signed a new agreement between Turkish Petroleum Corporation and the Somali Petroleum Authority for hydrocarbon exploration in land areas, which further extends the cooperation in energy and resource development.

Earlier in the day, Bayraktar met with Somali Prime Minister Hamza Abdi Barre and Mohamud, posting on X (formerly Twitter) that relations between the two countries “are getting stronger every day with the projects we jointly develop.”

Since Turkish President Erdogan’s landmark visit to Somalia in 2011, relations between Türkiye and Somalia have deepened significantly.

Türkiye has invested heavily in Somalia’s education, infrastructure, and health sectors, as well as provided substantial humanitarian aid. With the arrival of the Oruc Reis, Türkiye and Somalia are now entering a new phase of energy cooperation.