With around thirty diplomatic visits to the African continent since 2005, Recep Tayyip Erdogan continues to woo the African continent. Methodologically pursuing his dual diplomatic and economic strategy, the Turkish president added Angola, Togo and Nigeria to his African agenda. The volume of trade between Turkey and Africa has increased in twenty years from 5 billion to over 25 billion dollars.
In Luanda, Angola, the first stop on his African journey, President Erdogan said at the end of his visit Tuesday, October 19. “wanting to advance relations with Africa on the basis of a win-win egalitarian partnership, within the framework of mutual respect”. A little earlier, in a speech to the Angolan parliament, he considered that “the fate of mankind cannot and must not be left to the mercy of a handful of countries which are the victors of World War II”.
“Ignoring calls for change is an injustice for Africa”, he added, adding that Turkey was not “no stain” imperialism or colonialism, forgetting in passing that the Ottoman Empire had long colonized the Middle East and North Africa.
In conversations with his Angolan counterpart Joao Lourenço, the Turkish president praised the Turkish gas industry, stressing that it “would be delighted to share her experience”.
Arrived in the evening in Togo, Recep Tayyip Erdogan came to push his companies, to avoid being left behind by the competition, especially Chinese or Russian. “Turkish companies are ready to give you their contributions for investments in tourism, energy supply and infrastructure construction “, he promised.
Several agreements have been signed in the sectors of agriculture, industry and defense with his Togolese counterpart, Faure Gnassingbé. Burkinabè presidents Roch-Marc Christian Kaboré and Liberian Georges Weah also made the trip to Lomé to join discussions with the Turkish president before he went to Nigeria to meet with the head of state Muhammadu Buhari. .
Last April, Turkey opened in Togo its 43rd embassy on the African continent. Today, about sixty African cities are served from Ankara by Turkish airlines.
Ankara mainly exports its construction and civil engineering companies. Stadiums, airport, accommodation … a vast market opens up to Turkish know-how. Turkey is also increasingly arming, with armored vehicles or drones – Morocco has thus received a batch of Turkish drones Bayraktar TB2 -, even the training of local armed forces.
This diplomatic activism can also be explained by Turkey’s desire to appear as a great power and to regularly seek a seat as a non-permanent member on the UN Security Council. What Ankara had obtained in 2019 precisely thanks to the support of African countries.
Anxious not to be left behind on the continent, Recep Tayyip Erdogan invited African countries to the 3rd Turkey-Africa summit, scheduled for the end of 2021, where no less than fifty heads of state are expected Africans.