{"id":11204,"date":"2024-08-02T19:36:00","date_gmt":"2024-08-02T16:36:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.globalpanorama.org\/2024\/08\/turkiye-africa-mc\/"},"modified":"2024-11-20T20:28:28","modified_gmt":"2024-11-20T17:28:28","slug":"new-phase-of-turkiye-africa-ties-from-development-aid-to-strategic-security-cooperation-mehmet-celik","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.globalpanorama.org\/en\/2024\/08\/new-phase-of-turkiye-africa-ties-from-development-aid-to-strategic-security-cooperation-mehmet-celik\/","title":{"rendered":"New Phase of T\u00fcrkiye-Africa Ties: From Development Aid to Strategic Security Cooperation – Mehmet \u00c7elik"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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As an emerging middle power country seeking to expand its diplomatic and economic influence beyond its traditional allies and geographic scope in the post-Cold War period, T\u00fcrkiye launched its Africa opening (Africa Action Plan) in 1998. Given the political and economic transformation in T\u00fcrkiye in the early 2000s, a more substantial and more effective engagement with the continent began in 2005 when Ankara declared it the \u201cYear of Africa\u201d, and consequently African Union declared the country as a \u2018strategic partner\u2019 in 2008. However, it can be said that the year 2011 given T\u00fcrkiye\u2019s engagement with the continent a take-off, when the then-Prime Minister, Turkish President Erdo\u011fan paid an official visit to the famine and drought-hit Somalia to draw the international community\u2019s attention to the humanitarian disaster.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since then, a vast amount of changes has taken place in Ankara\u2019s bilateral relations with many countries across the continent, particularly in the Horn of Africa region. Turkish state institutions such as the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA), the Turkish Maarif Foundation, the Presidency of Religious Affairs (DIYANET) and the related Turkiye Diyanet Foundation (TDV) as well as non-governmental organizations have intensely been engaged in many countries to offer development and humanitarian aid and have offered cooperation to local stakeholders. More significantly, Ankara has aggressively expanded its diplomatic visibility across the continent as it increased the number of its embassies from 12 in 2002 to 44 as of 2022. Turkish Airlines flies to more than 50 destinations across Africa, while thousands of students from Africa study in Turkish universities as they are granted bursaries under Turkish Scholarships program or African students are educated in Turkish schools operated by the Turkish Maarif Foundation. President Erdo\u011fan visits the continent frequently and hosts leaders of African nations more than seldom to strengthen bilateral ties. The abovementioned engagement, especially through T\u0130KA\u2019s development aid cooperation and effective projects, has assisted many underprivileged countries across the continent to build their infrastructure that serve their citizens or helped built their institutional capacities in many sectors from healthcare to agriculture to security.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Moreover, through engagement built via development cooperation, Turkish private sector and businesses were able to establish connections with the continent, making it a profitable market for Turkish goods and a region for Turkish investments in many areas. In Somalia, a country seen as a prime example of Ankara\u2019s engagement in the continent, for instance, Turkish companies are running both the airport and the port in the capital Mogadishu.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

At a more grandiose level, the effective and successful engagement through development aid projects has elevated T\u00fcrkiye\u2019s \u2018perceived prestige\u2019 as a middle power state with capabilities, brought forward Ankara as a reliable actor for cooperation and an alternative to traditional Western donors linked to the continent\u2019s negative memory of colonialism and exploitation. From East to West, T\u00fcrkiye has aimed to offer itself as a partner that is seeking a \u2018win-win\u2019 partnership that protects mutual interests, not only through transfer of goods, services, and technology, but as a partner that also help the states in the continent with transfer of know-how and build their human capital.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The nearly two-decade-old engagement by Ankara, as mentioned above, has yielded results for T\u00fcrkiye to expand its diplomatic and economic influence in the region, paving the way for more strategic cooperation with many countries especially in areas of security, energy and defense sectors. Recently, several events have shown how Ankara has been able to reap the fruits of its diplomatic footprint on the continent.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Defense and economic deal with Somalia<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In February this year, T\u00fcrkiye signed an economic and defense framework deal with Somalia<\/a>. This new deal, which enables Turkish naval forces to protect Somalia\u2019s seas for a decade, will also allow T\u00fcrkiye to build and train a navy force for Somalia. T\u00fcrkiye has already taken part in training of thousands of Somalian soldiers both in T\u00fcrkiye and also in its largest military base abroad, Turksom, in Mogadishu.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In July, Turkish Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar announced<\/a> that within the framework of the \u201cHydrocarbon Exploration and Production Agreement\u201d signed between Ankara and Mogadishu, T\u00fcrkiye will search for natural gas and oil in 3 blocks in the Somali seas. T\u00fcrkiye\u2019s MTA Oru\u00e7 Reis Seismic Research Vessel and its support ships are planned to be deployed to Somalia at the end of September. According to seismic researches conducted in 2014,<\/a> Somalia\u2019s seas may have reserves worth of 30 billion of crude across 15 blocks. In other words, while T\u00fcrkiye, as an energy dependent country, seeks to diversify its energy sources, it also helps Somalia economic development. More importantly, Ankara\u2019s support to Somalia to build its navy muscle will help the country\u2019s f\u0131ght against illegal fishing in its seas and also terrorism. Strategically, while a strong navy will elevate Somalia in the Gulf of Aden, it also leverages T\u00fcrkiye\u2019s political influence in the region vis-a-vis other rival parties in seeking active role in the region and serves for Ankara\u2019s long-term interests in Horn of Africa. A similar hydrocarbon exploration maritime deal was signed with Libya in 2022<\/a> though it has not been actually materialized given the instability in the country.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

New ties with Niger and Sahel region<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another significant event to show the new phase of T\u00fcrkiye engagement with Africa is the course of ties with Niger and the Sahel region countries.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a declaration of intent signed in mid-July, T\u00fcrkiye and Niger announced<\/a> that they will expand bilateral cooperation in the energy field, particularly oil and natural gas. Niger\u2019s Prime Minister Ali Mahamane Lamine Zeine had paid a visit to T\u00fcrkiye in February at the invitation of Erdo\u011fan. The new deal was inked during a return visit by a high-level Turkish delegation that included Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, National Defense Minister Ya\u015far G\u00fcler, Energy and Natural Resources Minister Alparslan Bayraktar and National Intelligence Organization (M\u0130T) Director \u0130brahim Kal\u0131n.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Niger\u2019s geostrategic location for intra-continent trade as well as its uranium resources make the country a key actor not only in Africa but also globally. Niger\u2019s deportation of France soldiers last years and also the withdrawal of U.S. soldiers in the coming days make the country vulnerable for its security, peace and stability needs. Two other major actors in the continent, Russia and China, are indeed expected to make their moves to fill in the void created by the U.S. withdrawal and France\u2019s removal. Thus why, T\u00fcrkiye\u2019s engagement with Niger is strategically important for Ankara\u2019s continuous and long-term presence in Africa. Moreover, Ankara\u2019s presence in the region will also mean that still a NATO member will be on the ground. At a time when there is a political transformation taking place in Sahel region, a successful engagement with Niger through helping country\u2019s economic development will also increase Ankara\u2019s political influence in the region and further amplify its perceived prestige as a reliable partner.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the most important elements of T\u00fcrkiye\u2019s new phase is also the defense agreements Ankara has signed with African nations, including Somalia, Libya, Kenya, Rwanda, Ethiopia, Nigeria and Ghana. In particular, T\u00fcrkiye\u2019s domestically produced Bayraktar drones<\/a> delivered to Chad, Togo, Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger have been active in fight against terrorism in the region.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also, this year, T\u00fcrkiye has been active as a mediator between warrying parties of Somalia Somaliland, as well as between Somalia and Ethiopia<\/a> over disagreements related to Ethiopia\u2019s recognition of Somaliland. The first mediation meeting between Ethiopia and Somalia took place in T\u00fcrkiye in early July. A second round is expected to be held in September.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In conclusion, while T\u00fcrkiye was merely present diplomatically in Africa in the early 2000s, Ankara is now seen as a reliable actor with increased prestige in several realms. Built upon T\u00fcrkiye\u2019s historical connection to the Africa that dates back to 15th<\/sup> century without a colonialist baggage as well as the effective contemporary engagement through development cooperation, Ankara is now seen as a strong alternative to Western states for mutually-beneficial partnerships. While this offers Ankara a diplomatic and economic leverage and influence in the region, it also bears with it risks given strong super powers\u2019 rivalry over the continent\u2019s resources, Ankara\u2019s newly engagement in security and energy fields, and the risks arising from the instability in the region, necessitating a delicate and diligent balance in working through regional power dynamics.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Dr. Mehmet \u00c7elik<\/strong>, Daily Sabah<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Mehmet \u00c7elik is the Editorial Coordinator for Daily Sabah newspaper where he also writes weekly columns on current political affairs. The author\u2019s academic research has focused on Turkish foreign policy and impact of development aid.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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To cite this work:<\/strong>\u00a0Mehmet \u00c7elik, “New Phase of T\u00fcrkiye-Africa Ties: From Development Aid to Strategic Security Cooperation”,\u00a0Panorama<\/em>, Online, 2 August 2024. https:\/\/www.globalpanorama.org\/blog\/2024\/08\/02\/turkiye-africa-mc\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Copyright@UIKPanorama All on-line and print rights reserved. Opinions expressed in works published by the Panorama<\/em> belongs to the authors alone unless otherwise stated, and do not imply endorsement by the IRCT, Global Academy, or the Editors\/Editorial Board of Panorama. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As an emerging middle power country seeking to expand its diplomatic and economic influence beyond its traditional allies and geographic scope in the post-Cold War period, T\u00fcrkiye launched its Africa opening (Africa Action Plan) in 1998. Given the political and economic transformation in T\u00fcrkiye in the early 2000s, a more substantial and more effective engagement […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":246,"featured_media":10702,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[500,486,508],"tags":[535,656,650],"class_list":["post-11204","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-africa","category-opinion","category-turkey","tag-africa","tag-english","tag-turkiye"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.globalpanorama.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11204","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.globalpanorama.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.globalpanorama.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.globalpanorama.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/246"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.globalpanorama.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11204"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.globalpanorama.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11204\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.globalpanorama.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10702"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.globalpanorama.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11204"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.globalpanorama.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11204"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.globalpanorama.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11204"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}