Turkey’s growing focus on Africa causing concern in rival capitals
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When the Cold War ended, and Ankara became increasingly engaged in efforts to diversify its foreign policy, Africa began to emerge as a potential area in which Turkish influence might be exerted.
As a result, in 1998 Turkey adopted an “Africa Action Plan.” However, a challenging agenda during the 1990s sapped the energy from the efforts of Turkish decision-makers looking for a strong “Africa opening.” Domestic political and economic instability during the decade — including changes of government, economic crises, the rise of terrorism, threats from neighboring nations, and frustrations about diplomatic relations with the EU — limited Ankara’s power to forge closer ties with Africa.
Although Turkey’s pivot to the continent started before the current ruling party came to power in 2002, the 2000s paved the way for Turkey to create enduring relationships. Africa has become an attractive new target for Ankara in its pursuit of influence, and a test for its global and soft power goals.
The 1998 action plan really began to take shape in 2005, which was declared the “Year of Africa.” Although Turkey’s accession talks with the EU formally began that year, too, all eyes in Ankara were on Africa rather than Europe.
In 2008, Turkey signed a formal partnership with the African Union. The same year, Ankara acquired the status of strategic partner to the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), but the move toward Africa was much more noteworthy.
The growing disagreements between Turkey and some EU and GCC member states in recent years have led Ankara to further shift its attention to Africa, which has become a new arena for rivalry between regional powers. The war in Libya in particular has forced these powers to make efforts to carve out positions for themselves on the continent through deals with African states.
In the past year alone, Turkish officials have visited the continent at least three times. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s most recent African tour was in January, during which he visited Algeria, Gambia and Senegal. His first stop was Algeria. It shares a border with Libya, where Turkey has increased its military activity in recent months.
With Libya occupying a special place in Turkey’s new foreign policy paradigm, as well as being important to other forces in the region, it is likely that a number of powers will continue to attempt to carve out roles for themselves in the continent, stepping on each other’s toes as they do so.
Sinem Cengiz
The visit proved that Ankara places high importance on its relations with Algeria, a country that has a significant presence in the region and which is considered by France — psychologically — to be its backyard.
When Erdogan visited Algeria in 2018, a reporter allegedly asked him, in French: “Did you come here with ... sympathy for Ottoman colonization?” Erdogan wittily replied: “If we were colonizers, you would have asked this question in Turkish, not French.”
There have been significant changes in northern Africa in the past 10 years, including the increasing presence of external powers, including Turkey. Given the tense relationship between Ankara and Paris as a result of regional issues, the development in recent months of an increasingly close relationship between Turkey and Algeria requires closer scrutiny.
During a visit to Ankara this week, Algerian Foreign Minister Sabri Boukadoum reiterated that both countries are determined to enhance all aspects of their relationship. Both he and his Turkish counterpart, Mevlut Cavusoglu, also said that Turkey and Algeria will continue to work together in an effort to bring peace and stability to Libya and the wider region.
During his visit to Algeria in January, Erdogan reportedly asked Algerian authorities for access to their air and naval bases to assist Turkish operations in Libya. In another sign of improving relations, a fugitive Algerian soldier accused of leaking confidential military information was reportedly handed over by the Turkish government at the end of July, following a request by Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune during a telephone conversation with Erdogan.
France, meanwhile, is annoyed by Ankara’s attempts to cultivate ties in Algeria and other African countries. Cavusoglu made it clear during a three-day tour of Togo, Niger and Equatorial Guinea in July that Turkey is determined to strengthen its cooperation with African countries and regional organizations. While he was in Niger, a southern neighbor of Libya, a deal was signed for cooperation on military training — a development that caught the attention of Africa Intelligence, a website based in France.
The military dimension has become a characteristic of Turkey’s bilateral ties with African nations. During his visits to the continent, Erdogan has promoted Turkish military equipment and sought to forge military partnerships.
In parallel with its military activity in Libya, the significance of Ankara’s increasingly close relationships with countries across the continent cannot be underestimated, from Tunisia to Sudan, Ethiopia to Somalia.
In the Horn of Africa, Ethiopia is emerging as a second potential partner for Ankara after Somalia, where Turkey built a military base that established a new balance in the Horn of Africa. Off the coast of the Horn, Turkish warships patrol the Gulf of Aden as part of the UN’s antipiracy task forces. Sudan in 2017 agreed to lease Suakin Island to Turkey for 99 years, which sparked concerns among regional powers about Turkish intentions in the Red Sea.
Meanwhile, at a time when Algeria’s top diplomat was in Ankara, French President Emmanuel Macron was touring the Middle East. With Libya occupying a special place in Turkey’s new foreign policy paradigm, as well as being important to other forces in the region, it is likely that a number of powers will continue to attempt to carve out roles for themselves on the continent, stepping on each other’s toes as they do so.
- Sinem Cengiz is a Turkish political analyst who specializes in Turkey’s relations with the Middle East. Twitter: @SinemCngz
