🇸🇴 🇹🇷 The Problem Is Not the Quote My timeline is full of Turkish media and social media posts like the attached. At first glance, they appear to be straightforward reporting of what His Excellency @HassanSMohamud said. The problem, however, is not the quote. The problem is the casual presentation of Hassan Sheikh Mohamud as Somalia’s legitimate president when his legal mandate expired on 15 May 2026. Turks, of all people, should understand why legitimacy matters. Had the 15 July 2016 coup succeeded, Turks would not appreciate foreign media casually treating those who seized power as the legitimate government. Many of us who hold these views are not anti-Türkiye. Quite the opposite. We have spent years celebrating the Somalia–Türkiye partnership. Somalia’s greatest assets are its people, its country, its resources—and a political culture that values freedom, constitutional government, the rule of law, and the peaceful transfer of power, while instinctively resisting authoritarian rule and subjugation. Türkiye should be on the side of Somalia and the Somali people, and should understand that many Somalis view the current dispute not as a contest over personalities, but as a question of constitutional legitimacy, democratic principle, and the peaceful transfer of power. That is the point our Turkish brothers and sisters need to internalize — because this is ultimately a question of legitimacy, and it is not going away regardless of the sweet talk of outgoing politicians, the sympathies of their admirers, or the amplification of their narratives by well-meaning partners. Somalis did not build their political culture around submission to strongmen, and they are unlikely to start now.