Turkey has gotten involved in the domestic political rifts in Somalia, the only African country where Turkey has a permanent military base.

The Somalian opposition accused Turkey of meddling in the country’s domestic politics in favor of the country’s incumbent president ahead of the critical presidential elections in February. 

Most recently the opposition candidates called on Turkey to postpone a planned shipment of weapons to a Somalian police force until the elections, wary of President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo could use them to challenge the results. In a joint letter to the Turkish Embassy in Mogadishu, the candidates asked Turkey to postpone the shipment. 

The candidates said they learned that Turkey was going to deliver 1,000 G3 assault rifles and 150,000 rounds of ammunition to the Somalian police’s Harma’ad unit between Dec. 16 and Dec. 18, reminding the Turkish authorities that the unit had been used to rig past elections. “There is no doubt the same Harma’ad forces and the weapons from Turkey will be used to hijack the upcoming elections,” the candidates were quoted as saying by Reuters.