Uganda has suspended all defence and military cooperation with Turkey, escalating a growing dispute between the two countries amid Kampala’s demands for the handover of prominent government critic Fred Lumbuye.
The Uganda People’s Defence Forces said on Saturday that the suspension had taken effect immediately and would remain in place until what it called outstanding issues concerning bilateral defence and military cooperation were resolved.
“The Uganda People’s Defence Forces has with immediate effect suspended all and any defence and military cooperation with the Republic of Turkey,” military spokesman Col. Chris Magezi said in a statement.
The army did not specify the issues behind the decision, but the announcement comes amid mounting tensions over Lumbuye, a Ugandan political blogger and outspoken critic of President Yoweri Museveni who is based in Turkey.
Uganda’s military chief, Gen. Muhoozi Kainerugaba, Museveni’s son, has repeatedly pressed Turkish authorities to hand Lumbuye over to Kampala.
Ugandan authorities say Lumbuye faces a series of criminal cases involving allegations including incitement to violence, spreading false information and misuse of communications networks.
The latest escalation came a day after supporters of the Patriotic League of Uganda, a political and civic group associated with Kainerugaba, demonstrated outside the Turkish Embassy in Kampala demanding Lumbuye’s extradition.
Turkey and Uganda have developed increasingly close defence relations over the past decade, including military training, defence equipment, technology transfers and cooperation in security and counter-terrorism.
The dispute has also begun spilling into other areas of bilateral relations.
Kainerugaba has threatened action against a multibillion-dollar railway project involving Turkish construction company Yapi Merkezi and has also made public statements calling for Turkish nationals to leave Uganda.
The military suspension marks one of the sharpest escalations yet in relations between Kampala and Ankara.
