Late last year, the Turkish authorities opened their largest military base abroad in the Somali capital Mogadishu as a step towards consolidating ties with Somalia and establishing a presence in East Africa. Since then they have been seeking a military base in Sudan as the second Turkish base in Africa.
Turkey signed an agreement with Sudan at a joint press conference in Khartoum this week at the end of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s three-day visit to Sudan. The agreement allows Turkey a military presence on the Red Sea in Sudanese territorial waters.
Sudan is also leasing the Red Sea Suakin Island to Turkey, according to the new deal.
Urgency has been added to Turkey’s push into Africa as the UAE, one of Ankara’s regional foes, is increasing its own military presence on the continent.
The Turkish military base in Somalia is supposed to contain three military schools and other buildings, and Turkish officers are supposed to train more than 10,000 Somali troops at the base.
the Turkish choice of Somalia was not random but was based on several reasons. Somalia has an important coastline and is a main entrance to the Red Sea. It is free of any other military bases, giving the Turks a relatively free hand in Mogadishu.”
African that “the opening of the base is the culmination of a long process and plans set in action many years ago. Turkey started its push into Africa in 2002 from an economic perspective and then moved to a political and a security role.”
“This has made Turkey one of the most important actors in the Horn of Africa and East Africa region. The Turkish moves are also not limited to Somalia, but include Ethiopia, Djibouti and Kenya. The Turks have also tried to build relations with Eritrea, but they have not been welcomed in Asmara,
Sub-Saharan Africa is seeing an impressive surge in growth and urbanisation, and it has abundant natural and human resources. The continent recorded an annual average growth rate of five per cent over the last decade and is expected to continue this trend in the coming years. Six out of the 10 fastest-growing economies in the world are now in Africa.
Turkey’s Trade and Economic Enhancement Strategy towards Africa lies behind the growth in Turkey’s bilateral relations with the African countries since 2003, when an economic boom in Turkey was accompanied by a renewed interested in Africa and a desire to grow trade volumes between Africa and Turkey.
Trade tripled in value to $16.7 billion in 2016 from $5.4 billion in 2003. The strategy was updated during the Turkey-Africa Partnership Summit in Equatorial Guinea in 2014, and its objectives have been modified to increase Turkish investment in Africa.
Relations between Turkey and the African continent constitute one of the prime orientations of Turkish foreign policy. In 2013, Turkey gave a further boost to its policies in Africa, turning them into a reinforced political-economic partnership. “If we were to think of any one country that should be present in Africa,
Turkish government-approved institutions in Africa, both aid-related and educational, and an initiative has been launched to encourage Turkish student volunteers to engage in aid and development projects in 18 African countries
Turkish universities are also providing scholarships to African students. The hope is that these will benefit Turkey in the future when the students rise to positions of influence in their countries.
In 2009, there were only 12 Turkish embassies in Africa, five of them in North Africa. There are now 39. There is also a growing number of African embassies in Ankara, now standing at 32 and up from 10 some years ago. Guinea Bissau, Cameroon, Tanzania and Mozambique are all planning to open embassies in Ankara.
Of Turkish development assistance to Africa, that “Turkey’s approach is based on a combination of humanitarian and development assistance. Turkey has been providing substantial numbers of scholarships to African students. Between 1991 and 2014, the total numbers of scholarships was 4,380, but this has been substantially increased, and in 2015-16 Turkey provided 1,239 scholarships for students from Africa.”
Turkey has chosen to become involved in reconstruction and relief work in Africa. In Somalia, it started with the reconstruction of the Mogadishu port and parliament and built about 10,000 housing units and a large hospital equipped with the latest equipment.”