Somalia reaffirms Cyprus policy after parliament speaker's social media post

The Somali government has reaffirmed its official position regarding the Cyprus dispute following a social media post by the newly elected Speaker of the House of the People, Abdulkadir Mohamed Nur. Nur had publicly thanked Ziya Öztürkler, the Speaker of the Assembly of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), for his congratulations on Nur's election. Although the post was subsequently deleted, it sparked significant diplomatic debate.

Somalia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a clarification stating that the exchange does not signal a shift in foreign policy and does not constitute recognition of Northern Cyprus as a separate entity. The ministry emphasized that Somalia continues to respect the sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity of the Republic of Cyprus, guided by the Charter of the United Nations and relevant UN Security Council resolutions.

In response to the incident, the unrecognised Republic of Somaliland has called on Cyprus and Greece to reconsider their stance on Somaliland's own international recognition. Somaliland authorities argued that the Somali Speaker's engagement with Northern Cyprus raises questions about Somalia's stance and suggested that recognizing Somaliland could strengthen security and economic cooperation in the region.