Somalia reaffirms support for Cyprus sovereignty following diplomatic incident

On August 21, 2026, the Federal Republic of Somalia officially reaffirmed its commitment to the sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity of the Republic of Cyprus. This statement was issued by the Somali Ministry of Foreign Affairs following a public social media acknowledgment by Abdulkadir Mohamed Nur, the newly elected Speaker of the Somali House of the People, who had referred to the self-proclaimed entity in the occupied north of Cyprus as a "Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus" while thanking Ziya Ozturkler for congratulatory messages.

The Cypriot Ministry of Foreign Affairs, through its spokesperson Theodoros Gotsis, welcomed the clarification, stating that Somalia remains guided by the United Nations Charter and relevant Security Council resolutions. This diplomatic incident prompted a reaction from the Republic of Somaliland, which condemned the interaction between the Somali official and the representative of the separatist entity. Somaliland officials characterized the move as questionable and called upon both Athens and Nicosia to reconsider their strategic relations with Somaliland, positioning themselves as allies against what they described as the aggression of Somalia and Turkey.