The Turkish government has donated military equipment to the Gambian army at the country’s defence headquarters in Banjul on Tuesday bringing its support to country’s military to $1.4M (D70 million) from 2018 to now.
Ismail Sefa Yuceer, Turkish ambassador to Gambia explained that: “This cooperation scheme is a technical assistant program that has been going in last sixteen years and in that respect the total volume of the assistant (received from 2018 to 2019) is $1.4 equivalent to D70M. In addition to these items we are expecting another items which will arrive soon,”
Officials said 7500 Gambian soldiers have been trained by the Turkish military both in the country and in Turkey.
Gambia is on a political transition and the country’s military is being reformed as it progresses from its dictatorship past.
The donated items include military boots, jackets and bags and what the military called “non lethal weapons”.
Masanneh Kinteh army Chief of Defence Staff said: “The support is huge in our efforts towards ensuring that the Gambia Armed Forces is fully equipped and ready to be able to take of Her responsibilities both home and abroad”.
“Most of the items that we have received would be for our peacekeeping use and items not only that we have receive a lot of them in quantity but also this are some of the best military equipment you would find with any soldier around the world… Since the dawn of this new dispensation we have been having a lot of support from lot of countries but a support of this nature, magnitude and quality.”