Turkey steps up its African ambitions
TURKISH engagement in Africa is expanding rapidly, extending beyond economic outreach to encompass business, aid, diplomacy, culture and military support.
The rapid growing Turkish presence on the continent has been primary conceived by Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey’s president, who has sought to remodel Turkey as an “Afro-Eurasian state”; a model for the Islamic world and an alternative to the West, which, in his mind, has surrendered its moral authority.
What began with economic outreach, experts say, has progressed into a complex Africa policy encompassing business, aid, diplomacy, culture and military support.
Today, Turkish fingerprints are all over Africa, from the Kigali Arena in Rwanda, East Africa’s biggest stadium, built by a Turkish construction firm, to an Olympic swimming pool in Coastal Senegal, a colossal mosque in Djibouti, Turkish military hardware on Libya’s battlefields, a military base in Somalia.
And in arid Niger, a gateway to the Sahara desert, and a remodelled, sprawling airport to be managed on Niger’s behalf for three decades.
These are only a few recent private and public investments in Africa by Turkey, an emerging middle power that’s making moves in a region that has historically received aid and investment from European colonial powers, and of late, from China.
Speculations abound on what this represents.
While some chalk up Turkey’s moves to economic interests and c ompetition with other regional powers, others point to national security priorities and domestic political agendas. But while most African countries have welcomed the new partnership, experts ponder about the long-term ambitions behind Erdogan’s Africa strategy.
“Undoubtedly, Turkish openness towards Africa is part of a broader framework aimed at building Turkey’s role as a global player,” says Federico Donelli, an expert on Ankara’s activity in the Horn of Africa and a researcher at the University of Genoa.
African countries have benefited from this partnership and the AU has designated Turkey as a strategic partner. However, time will tell what form Turkey’s diplomacy ultimately takes. |