Somalia should be made a success story in the African continent

Somalia should be made a success story in the African continent, said Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu at the Somalia Conference in London on Tuesday. Davutoglu said he was confident that from now on Somalis should be in the driving seat of all future endeavors concerning Somalia. The Somali administration has undertaken tireless efforts to secure the territorial integrity and political sovereignty of Somalia under President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud's leadership who is the co-chair of the conference,said Davutoglu. Stating that Turkey always stood behind the Somali leadership and the Somali people in their sacred cause, Davutoglu said the Somali people had full sense of hope for their future after long years of conflict. "Our main responsibility is to keep alive this hopefulness in Somalia. Today, the most urgent priority in Somalia is to follow a comprehensive and multidimensional strategy. This holistic strategy should be based on the Six-Pillar Policy of President Mahmoud. We all need to record progress through simultaneous implementation of this policy. During the implementation process of the Six-Pillar Policy, constructive engagement of the regional countries should be secured" he added. Davutoglu said trust and confidence should be re-established between the Somali people and the regional and international community. He noted that Turkey would like to underline the importance of political reconciliation, rebuilding of the Somali security forces and economic recovery and infrastructure development as immediate priorities in Somalia. All the areas which are cleared of Al Shabab must have new local administrations in order not to have a power vacuum, said Davutoglu adding that national reconciliation was the key to achieving that. Stating that rebuilding the Somali security forces constituted the first imperative priority for Somalia, he emphasized Turkey together with the Somali authorities had already prepared the comprehensive plan on the future of the Somali military and police forces. "My country has allocated 10 million USD ready to be used for such a purpose. Being aware that the restructuring and rebuilding of the Somali security forces should be a collective endeavor and that no country could undertake such a mission alone in Somalia, Turkey will appreciate all contributions to the Security Fund through which the most interested countries could render their thorough support to the work on the Somali security sector" Davutoglu said. Davutoglu pointed out that the Somali people were in urgent need to have fundamental public services like health, education, transportation, water and energy supplies. Turkey continues to swiftly carry out renovation and economic development activities which have started to change the face of the country, and instill a sense of confidence in the future, he added. Calling for the international community to begin immediately to implement some large scale infrastructure and development projects in close cooperation and coordination of the Somali Federal Government, he said they were very pleased that the United Nations (UN) Assistance Mission in Somalia, UNSOM, would be established as of June 3, 2013. Davutoglu also mentioned the need for a new full-fledged UN Mission in Mogadishu. International Somalia Conference Fifty countries and organisations such as the United Nations, the African Union, the International Monetary Fund and Somalia's neighbours gathered for an international conference on Somalia at the Lancaster House of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. Davutoglu was welcomed by the British Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office Alistair Burt. Issues like Somalia's future, terrorism and piracy will be discussed at the conference which is co-hosted by Somalia and Britain. The conference follows on from ones held in London on February 23 and in Istanbul on June 1, 2012. Britain, which closed its embassy in 1991 in Mogadishu, reopened it last month and donates to Somalia 80 million British pound every year.