The Turkish Embassy in Kampala has announced that it will close on Friday, September 18, 2026, citing a planned demonstration by the Patriotic League of Uganda (PLU) outside its premises.
In a notice issued on Thursday, September 17, the embassy said it would suspend operations because of the planned protest near its offices. The notice advised Turkish citizens of the closure but did not provide further details about security arrangements.
The demonstration was ordered by Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba, Uganda’s Chief of Defence Forces and chairman of the PLU. On September 9, Kainerugaba announced that the group would demonstrate at the Turkish Embassy on September 18 and appointed PLU Secretary General Fadil Twalla to coordinate the mobilisation.
The PLU subsequently published an official notice confirming the demonstration, saying its structures, leaders, coordinators and supporters were expected to prepare for what it described as a “full-force demonstration.”
Lumbuye at centre of dispute
Fred Lumbuye, a Ugandan blogger and outspoken critic of President Yoweri Museveni’s government, is one of the issues cited in the growing dispute between Kampala and Ankara.
Kainerugaba has repeatedly called on Turkish authorities to hand Lumbuye over to Uganda. Lumbuye has been living in Türkiye and has used social media to criticise the Ugandan government.
His case has a complicated history. In August 2021, Turkish authorities reportedly deported Lumbuye to Uganda, where Ugandan lawyers subsequently petitioned the High Court seeking information about his whereabouts and challenging his detention. Uganda’s State Minister for Foreign Affairs at the time, Henry Okello Oryem, confirmed that Lumbuye had been deported but denied that he had been taken to the Turkish Embassy before being handed over to Ugandan authorities.
Lumbuye’s continued presence in Türkiye has since re-emerged as an issue in Uganda-Türkiye relations. Pulse Uganda reported in June that his case had become part of the dispute between Kainerugaba and Ankara, with the Ugandan military chief pressing Turkey over his continued stay there.
Claims that Lumbuye is entitled to refugee protection would depend on his legal status in Türkiye and the findings of the relevant Turkish authorities. More generally, UNHCR’s guidance states that the principle of non-refoulement protects refugees from being returned to a country where they face a risk of persecution; extradition cases can raise similar protection questions.
Wider Uganda-Türkiye tensions
The protest is part of a broader deterioration in public relations between Kainerugaba and Türkiye.
On September 9, Kainerugaba said he had severed ties with Turkish interests in Uganda and called on Turkish nationals to leave the country. He also warned that people he described as Turkish agents could be arrested during the planned demonstration.
The post ordering Turkish nationals to leave was subsequently deleted. Uganda’s Foreign Affairs Ministry has not been reported as adopting that directive as formal government policy.
The dispute has also involved Uganda’s military role in Somalia, Turkish commercial interests and a contract for construction of the Malaba-Kampala Standard Gauge Railway by Turkish company Yapı Merkezi. Kainerugaba has previously threatened measures against Turkish interests and questioned Ankara’s recognition of Uganda’s military contribution to Somalia.
The Turkish Embassy remains officially listed by Türkiye’s Foreign Ministry as operating from Prince Charles Drive in Kololo, Kampala, with Uganda as its accredited country.
The September 18 closure is therefore a temporary suspension of embassy operations in response to the planned demonstration, rather than an announcement that diplomatic relations between Uganda and Türkiye have been formally severed.
