While Trump talks business, Erdogan snatches U.S. oil fields and military contracts in Somalia and Syria—turning allies into proxies and profits.
Trump wants to put America first. But Erdogan wants to put America in check.
As President Donald Trump moves to limit U.S. exposure abroad, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is running a global hustle—undercutting American firms, sponsoring proxies, and hijacking U.S. influence from Somalia to Syria.
The latest example? Las Anod—the town Somalia seized from Somaliland in 2023, with China’s blessing. Erdogan didn’t just nod; he sent his oil company. Just months after the offensive, Turkey’s state-owned petroleum giant signed rights to land blocks in Somalia, including the Holhol bloc—once explored by Houston-based ConocoPhillips.
And who’s facilitating the handover? Somalia’s PM Hamza Barre, Erdogan’s new pawn. Barre’s Las Anod visit wasn’t diplomacy—it was resource extraction theater, designed to reward Turkish firms for backing Mogadishu’s illegal annexation of Somaliland land.
This isn’t partnership. This is daylight robbery.
Erdogan has already entrenched himself inside Mogadishu’s airport, where U.S. diplomats operate under Turkish security. He built a naval base, trains Somali forces, and now wants the entire Horn of Africa oil patch—all while selling himself to Trump as a strongman “ally.”
He even married his drone empire into power—literally. Erdogan’s daughter is married to Selçuk Bayraktar, Turkey’s top defense tech mogul. Baykar drones are now exported to Somalia, Syria, and anywhere Turkey wants leverage.
Meanwhile in Syria, Erdogan props up puppet president Ahmed al-Sharaa, who funnels reconstruction contracts to Ankara—not Washington. And in the Eastern Mediterranean? Erdogan is expanding maritime claims, slashing through U.S.-backed gas corridors to grab more sea-based wealth.
Erdogan is not Trump’s partner. He’s his economic predator.
While Trump believes business is the best diplomacy—and he’s right—he’s being played. If America doesn’t wake up, Erdogan will gut U.S. influence across East Africa, the Levant, and the Mediterranean—all while laughing on the phone with Beijing and cashing checks in Ankara.
It’s time for the U.S. to stop the charade, shut down Turkey’s energy grabs in Africa, and back real partners—like Somaliland and Israel—who fight for security, not Ottoman revenge fantasies.
