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Egypt Seeks to Counter Turkish Influence in Somalia
(Al-Monitor) Khalid Hassan - Maj.-Gen. Hatem Bashat, a member of the Egyptian parliamentary Committee for African Affairs, said Nov. 16 that Egypt is well aware of the "malicious" Turkish moves in Somalia to control the Red Sea. On Nov. 14, units of Egypt's elite Saiqa Force and air force arrived at Marwa air base in Sudan to participate in joint Egyptian-Sudanese combat exercises for the first time ever. Amani al-Tawil, an expert on African affairs at Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies, told Al-Monitor that in January Egypt inaugurated the major Berenice naval and air base near its southern border, the largest in the Red Sea, to counter Turkish threats and ambitions in the region. On Sept. 30, 2017, Turkey inaugurated a military base south of Mogadishu, and announced on Jan. 20 the start of oil exploration in Somali waters.