Ankara Prioritises African Cooperation

Mehmet OZKAN

This is Africa (Financial Times)
June 2009, p.13

http://www.thisisafricaonline.com/news/fullstory.php/aid/87/Policy_watch:_Turkey_.html

Recent years have seen an increasing interest by Turkey in developing stronger relations with the African continent. Beginning in 1998, this was at first tentative, but has been more aggressively pursued since 2005. Turkey declared 2005 “the year of Africa”, with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan visiting several African countries, becoming the first Turkish prime minister to visit a country south of the equator. This process culminated in the first ever Turkey-Africa Cooperation Summit in August 2008, in Istanbul, with the participation of representatives from 50 African countries.

Ankara’s keen interest was underlined by President Abdullah Gul, who stressed the importance of Turkey-Africa relations when he visited Kenya and Tanzania in February 2009. Furthermore, he declared that Turkey will be the spokesman for Africa at the UN during its non-permanent Security Council membership for 2009-2010. Underlying Turkey’s approach to Africa is a multidimensional foreign policy through which Turkey aims to develop both economic and political relations with various regions and continents across the globe. This policy was partly initiated in 1998, but it owes its sophistication and coherent implementation to the ruling Justice and Development Party, in power since 2002, and the foreign policy brain of Ahmet Davutoglu, the recently appointed Foreign Minister.

Africa is considered to be an important part of Turkey’s economic and political diversification. Turkey has decided to open 15 new embassies in Africa, in addition to the 12 it already has on the continent, more than doubling the density of its diplomatic representation in Africa. Ankara is also interested in developing relations at the institutional level in order to make this relationship deep-rooted and long lasting. Turkey obtained observer status in the African Union in 2005, which declared it a strategic partner in January 2008. In May 2008 Turkey joined the African Development Bank and has strengthened its relations with the Intergovernmental Authority on Development in East Africa and the Economic Community of West African States.

The Turkish International Cooperation and Development Agency has opened offices in Addis Ababa, Khartoum and Dakar, supporting development projects in their respective regions. Trade volumes with its African partners have more than doubled from $5.4bn in 2003 to over $12bn in 2007. Yet with a total trade volume of almost $300bn, current trade levels with African countries are not that significant. The target is to reach a trade volume of $30bn with Africa by the end of 2010.

African reactions to Turkey’s initiative have so far been a mixture of mild expectation and confusion. Following China and India, the question of why Turkey has shown what some consider an unexpected interest in the continent still does not have a clear answer for its African partners. Nevertheless, the fact that Turkey does not have a colonial background on the continent and an emphasis on equal partnership is welcomed and has created optimism about the future. Turkey’s Africa openings are expected to deepen over the coming years. They key challenge, however, lies in the mutual lack of knowledge and familiarity between the two parties, coupled with general uncertainty regarding how best to further relations.

Mehmet Ozkan is a Phd candidate at Sevilla University, Spain