Turkey-Brokered FGS-Opposition Talks Resume in Mogadishu; Puntland and Jubaland Boycott

Turkey's MIT intelligence service facilitated two days of direct talks in Mogadishu between the Federal Government of Somalia and the opposition Somali Future Council, after months of behind-the-scenes coordination. The core dispute remained the March 2026 constitutional amendments that critics say extend President Mohamud's term by a year and push elections to 2027. Puntland and Jubaland boycotted the talks, rejecting Turkey as a neutral mediator and citing the use of Turkish-supplied weapons in internal Somali confrontations; Turkey maintains a large military base in Somalia and had deployed F-16s there in 2026 for counter-Al-Shabaab operations.