A Somali Returns to a Country from Which He Was Previously Deported as a Diplomat

Ankara (Caasimada Online) – A Somali businessman who was forced by Turkish police to close a restaurant he owned in Ankara four years ago has returned to the city, now serving as the commercial attaché at the Somali embassy.

Maxamed Ciise Cabdullaahi left Turkey when his residency permit was revoked, also facing a deportation order. Bianet reported on Wednesday that he currently holds a diplomatic position at the Somali embassy in Ankara.

The news of his new position emerged at the end of October, when the Turkish business association HAKSİAD announced a visit by Cabdullaahi to its headquarters. The organization stated in the announcement that he is the commercial attaché at the Somali embassy.

Cabdullaahi was accompanied on the visit by Mukhtaar Cabdullaahi Cali, one of the founders and leaders of the Aw Ali company in Somalia. They discussed with the organization's leaders the trade between Somalia and Turkey and areas where new cooperation could be established.

His return has sparked reactions on social media in Turkey. Those who followed his earlier situation reminded that the man representing the Somali embassy today is the same businessman who faced difficulties in Ankara four years ago.

Neşe Özgen, an expert in social sciences and human culture, welcomed Cabdullaahi in a post she shared on X .

} “Mohamed Cise Abdullahi, welcome,” she said. “The café he struggled so much to keep open was attacked and destroyed by right-wing groups, and he was forced to leave Turkey.”

Omar Kadkoy, who manages the foreign policy, security, and migration program at the Istanbul office of the Heinrich Böll Foundation, also recalled what happened to Abdullahi.

“Do you remember Mohamed Cise Abdullahi, the man who was forced to close his café in Ankara?” he wrote on X . “He returned to Turkey as the commercial attaché at the Somali embassy.”

The controversial café

Abdullahi first went to Turkey for education in 2012. He studied at Ondokuz Mayıs University in Samsun, and obtained his master's degree from Bursa Uludağ University.

In 2019, he opened Saab Cafe in the Kızılay neighborhood of Ankara, which served Somali and other African foods. At that time, Somalis in Ankara were opening cafés, shops, and other businesses that were increasing.

The trouble began two years later. The police regularly monitored the café, often intervening, as anti-immigrant rhetoric and sentiment were growing stronger in Turkey.

The issue came to a head in June 2022, when police intervened in a party taking place at the café. They ordered that the Saab Cafe's colors , which were yellow, red, and green, be painted over with white.

The police argued that those colors are used by Kurdish groups that the Turkish government recognizes as terrorists.

Mustafa Yeneroğlu, who was then a member of the opposition party Democracy and Progress (DEVA), debated with the officials on site. He accused them of treating Cabdullaahi with racism and of carrying out an unlawful order.

Cabdullaahi insisted that the café had the necessary permits, and therefore the police had no legal grounds for intervention. The police responded that the name on the sign was different from that on the business license, and that the sign itself did not comply with regulations.

Deportation order and lawsuit

The tension did not end with the sign dispute. In July 2022, Turkish authorities issued an order to deport Cabdullaahi from the country.

The police arrested him on September 20 and took him to a facility in Ankara where individuals awaiting deportation are held. His lawyers at that time were requesting the Constitutional Court to halt the deportation.

His lawyers succeeded in having Cabdullaahi released from the facility on October 25. However, the pressure on his business did not stop. In December 2022, he announced that he had completely closed Saab Cafe.

Cabdullaahi also filed a complaint against the police with the Turkish Human Rights and Equality Institution (TİHEK). The institution rejected his complaint, stating that no discrimination had occurred, but he took that decision to court.

The 5th Administrative Court of Ankara viewed the matter differently. It ruled that the way the police treated Cabdullaahi was based on racism. The recordings presented in court also included officials using discriminatory language.

This ruling was announced in April 2024. At that time, Cabdullaahi had already returned to Somalia.

In the same year, the location where Saab Cafe was situated was opened as Verte Coffee House, which also has its name written in a foreign language. Cabdullaahi used this as an example of the different treatment received by the two restaurants, as the foreign language name was among the reasons the police seized his business.

Now, four years after he left Ankara due to police pressure, Cabdullaahi has returned to the city as a representative of business affairs from Somalia.