Monday September 18, 2017
By ABDINOR HASSAN DAHIR
Turkey's
engagement policy in Africa is effective and fruitful, paving the way
for a new era in bilateral relations between Africa and Turkey
Turkish
foreign policy has shifted in the last two decades mainly due to the
end of the Cold War and the subsequent disappearance of the Soviet bloc.
Since then, Ankara has adopted a multilateral and comprehensive foreign
policy by establishing relations with eastern regions, particularly
regions with which it had historical ties before the creation of the
Republic of Turkey in 1923. These regions include Central Asia, the
Middle East and Africa. So now it's imperative to examine Turkish
engagements in Africa. As a young African man with considerable
understanding of the continent and strong cultural connections with the
Middle East, I think Turkish engagements in Africa are effective and
beneficial for both sides.
Background of Turkey's Africa Engagement Policy
Historically,
the Ottoman Empire, which ruled some parts of the world for over 500
years, had a foothold in Africa. North Africa, which is geographically
nearer to Spain and the rest of Western Europe than Turkey and the
Middle East, was regarded as part of the greater Ottoman state and was
defended against Spanish incursions. In sub-Saharan Africa, Ottoman
influence was minimal and to some extent did not exist. When the Turkish
Republic was created in 1923, Ankara adopted a foreign policy based on
Westernization and secularism, which reflected the Kemalist perception
of international relations. The building blocks of this policy were
secularism and modernization by looking to the West for direction
(westernization) and cutting ties with the Ottoman past, keeping the
country together through securitization based on the defined borders of
the republic, and pursuing inward-looking
noninterventionist/nonrevisionist norms. The latter was encapsulated in
Ataturk's "Peace at Home, peace in the world" approach, which still has
considerable impact on today's Turkish foreign policy. During this
period, relations with Africa received less attention, and in the eyes
of the Turkish populace, Africa was regarded as a problematic and remote
region. However, Turkish policy makers modified Ankara's foreign policy
principles after the collapse of the Soviet Union. This has led to
establishing effective relations with Africa, especially countries in
sub-Saharan Africa.
The end of 2017 will mark two decades of
Turkish activism in Africa. Following its "opening to Africa policy"
adapted in the Action Plan 1998 as well as the subsequent declaration of
2005 as "The Year of Africa," Turkey has been active on the African
continent since 2002 when the Justice and Development Party (AK Party),
Turkey's ruling party, came to power. In the same year, the African
Union granted Turkey observer status at the organization's headquarters
in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and in 2008, the first ever Turkish-Africa
economic summit was held in Istanbul with representatives from 50
African countries attending. The same year, then Turkish Foreign
Minister Ali Babacan declared that Africa had a significant place in
Turkish foreign policy, and for this reason, Turkey increased its
diplomatic missions in the continent by opening 15 new embassies. Since
then, the Turkish presence is hugely felt on the continent, and its
cooperation with African states has increased considerably. In 2011, the
African Economic Outlook (AEO) jointly produced by the African
Development Bank, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and
the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), described
Turkey as one of the most important partners in Africa.
Strategic entry points of activism
Considering
these successful gains in bilateral relations, there are at least four
main entry points of Turkey's involvement in Africa: First, Turkey has
had historical ties with Africa that date back to the 15th and 16th
centuries. During this period, North Africa was an integral part of the
Ottoman Empire. Turkey developed relations with sub-Saharan Africa in
the 19th century when the decolonization process began.
Second,
Turkey is determined to make allies by increasing economic and political
ties with various states on the continent. One notable project that has
marked a turning point in Africa-Turkey economic relations was the
launching of "The Strategy Development of Economic Relationships with
Africa" in 2003. Ever since, Turkey has pursued a very robust, cohesive
foreign policy to increase its ties with African states. Ankara now
operates 39 embassies across Africa. As part of the opening to Africa
policy, Erdoğan, as both prime minister and president, embarked on 39
trips to Africa and became the first Turkish leader to visit 23 African
countries in the history of the Republic of Turkey. On the economic
front, Turkish flag carrier Turkish Airlines (THY) has extensively
increased its operation and daily flights to and from the African
continent.
The number of destinations has dramatically risen from
13 in 2009 to 51 in 2016. Turkish Airlines is now arguably the largest
carrier operating in Africa on a daily basis, covering 31 countries. In
economic terms, Turkey's trade relations with Africa are gradually
increasing. In 2015, Turkey's total trade volume with Africa was $19.5
billion, a 16 percent increase from 2008 and a 258 percent rise from
2003. Turkey's share of Africa trade volume rose to 2.3 percent in 2014,
and African states' share in Turkey's trade volume totaled 8.7 percent
in 2015. In 2003, Turkey's share in Africa trade volume was 1 percent,
while Africa's share in Turkey's trade volume was 4.5 percent. In 2015,
Turkish FDI (foreign direct investment) in Africa surpassed $6 billion,
while it was less than $100 million in 2003. During the last 10 years,
the Turkish Foreign Economic Relations Board (DEİK) has opened economic
councils with its counterparts in 31 African countries, 19 of them in
sub-Saharan Africa. Additionally, Ankara has established 26 commercial
consulates in 26 countries across the continent and inked trade and
economic pacts with 38 African nations to lay the foundation of an
effective contractual basis for reciprocal economic ties.
Furthermore,
Turkish businesses contractors are among the major forces on the
continent with increasing shares. Since the 1970s, Turkish contractors
have carried out more than 1,150 projects worth $55 billion in different
parts of Africa. Third, Turkey's presence is perceived on the continent
via cultural existence. This has been achieved by promoting historical
and religious ideals and opening Turkish schools in many African
countries. Besides the large number of Turkish schools, the Yunus Emre
Institute can be considered the leading Turkish cultural foundation
promoting Turkish culture and art outside of Turkey. Fourth, Ankara
seeks to increase its presence in Africa via aid by extending
humanitarian and development assistance to the people. Turkey, an
emerging middle power, has assumed a growing role in the humanitarian
field for the last decade, introducing new methods of humanitarian
activism, particularly in Africa. Humanitarian diplomacy has been a soft
power tool that Turkey had employed to win many hearts and minds as an
emerging international donor.
In 2017, the Global Humanitarian
Assistance Report ranked Turkey the world's second largest humanitarian
donor after the U.S. and the world's most generous nation compared to
its gross national income. In doing so, Ankara has devoted 0.75 percent
of its gross national income (GNI) for humanitarian assistance and
donated more than one fifth of the total $27.3 billion humanitarian aid
in the previous year. One sub-Saharan African country that hugely
benefited from Turkey's generosity is the war-torn Horn of African
nation was Somalia. In 2011, then Prime Minister Erdoğan along with
cabinet members, family members, humanitarian organizations and business
representatives visited Mogadishu, the Somali capital, to help prevent
the famine and alleviate the suffering of the people. Erdoğan is the
first non-African head of state to visit the nation in the last two
decades. Since then, Turkey has assisted Somalia in almost every aspect
and contributed to the state building process. Ankara now maintains its
largest embassy in Somalia and expects to inaugurate its second overseas
military facility in Mogadishu soon.
The facility, which is
already operational and providing training to the Somali Army, will help
Somali forces restore security in the country and contribute to
security and stability in the region. Turkish involvement in Somalia is a
reciprocal process. On one hand, it's effective and beneficial for
Somalia to rise from the ashes. On the other hand, it serves Turkey's
interests in Africa as President Erdoğan said, "Somalia has become a
symbol of the relations we wish to establish with our brothers in
Africa." Ankara now maintains a military base in Somalia. Needless to
say, Africa has vast natural resources, a young and vibrant population
and an entrepreneurial spirit that could turn the continent around.
Although
Turkey had Ottoman era historical and cultural relations with Africa,
its involvement on the continent started in the 1990s and gained
momentum when AK Party rule began in the early 2000s. Since then, Turkey
has won observer status in the African Union and is recognized as a
strategic partner and one of most significant actors in Africa. Turkey
became a non-regional member at the African Development Bank, as well as
successfully organizing three Turkey-Africa business and economic
summits - first, the Turkish-Africa economic summit in Istanbul in 2008;
second, the Turkish-African cooperation summit in Malabo, Equatorial
Guinea, in 2014; and third, the first Turkey-Africa Agriculture
Ministerial Meeting and Agribusiness Forum in Antalya in 2017. Finally,
the gradual increasing trade between Ankara and its African counterparts
coupled with Turkey's military re-engagement on the continent add
another layer, which will take bilateral cooperation to new heights. In
this context, one can conclude that Turkish engagement policy in Africa
is effective and fruitful, paving the way for a new era in bilateral
relations between Africa and Turkey.