Members of Global Somali Diaspora with Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan, Istanbul, Turkey
by Miski Osman
Thursday, June 26, 2014
Politicians, usually too submerged in their roles, often forget the most important aspect of their job. As students of international relations and development studies, we focus a lot on the analysis and understanding of political situations in historical contexts as well as inter-state relations and other relevant policy issues between and among states. This learning became extremely useful in both of my recent trips to Turkey; with the first visit helping me understand the domestic issues of Turkey and the second, being a global Somali Diaspora conference, giving me a tour into Somalia’s foreign Policy with Turkey and vice versa.
The Turkish government was one of the first governments to re-open their embassy in Somalia during 2011 at a time when the country was in a critical condition and was worst hit by famine. The Turkish Ambassador and the Deputy PM who had spoken at the Diaspora conference stated passionately their respect for the Somali people and their admiration of our spirit of survival and revival. They considered us brothers and sisters.
I was lucky enough to be chosen by my peers to meet with the Prime Minister (PM) of Turkey on the second day of the conference. It was a great honour and privilege for me, a young university student from London to meet one of the movers and shakers of global politics today.
The meeting was scheduled at a convention centre in Istanbul and my initial thoughts were that everyone would be thoroughly checked before entering the conference room and that the Turkish PM would come in with an army of bodyguards. However, this was far from reality. PM Erdogan walked in with no more than seven men including the Turkish ambassador to Somalia, the head of East African relations and a few other officials. This was it. No fanfare, drama or self-importance.
His speech was heart-touching because he emphasized that the most important thing that all Muslim countries have to do is stick together: “we are all brothers whichever part of the world we live in and if one country is suffering, then the other Muslim countries have a duty to assist,” he said.
After discussing the outcome of the Diaspora Conference, the PM invited us to join him in a nearby room to talk to a group of blind Quran hafidhs from all over the world. One of the hafidhs read suratul Inshirah. The room was left in awe as the Qari read the ayah ‘’with hardship comes ease’’ which was followed by a heartfelt speech by PM Erdogan, who was very humble, down-to-earth and genuine in explaining that the blind were not the physically-blind but rather the people whose souls were blind: as an explanation, I strongly believe he meant, how blind today’s Somalis are but which, out of respect for his guests and for his fellow Muslims, the Somalis, he did not want to say so!
I realised that every PM has a busy schedule, especially the one of an emerging power like Turkey; the powerhouse of NATO. This makes me only like initiatives like 13 PLUS which I am already very passionate about. However, the greatest lessons I have learnt from this trip and my engagements with the Turks is that the main thing that distinguishes a great leader is their ability to be human and genuinely care and tackle issues that matter most to the masses. May Allah bless him, bless the government and the people of Turkey and show us, the Somalis, the light so that we can emulate them and stand on our feet again soon. Ameen.
Miski Osman was part of the UK delegation which participated in the Istanbul Global Somali Diaspora conference. She is a member of 13 PLUS, a network comprising of young and old people who focus on ensuring the great work of SYL is not forgotten. Miski is an undergraduate student studying at Westminster University and she is the President of the Somali student union in her university. She can be contacted through: [email protected]