Turkey has long sought to extend its influence in Africa by mediating in conflicts and building military partnerships with countries on the continent.
Those efforts have picked up speed in recent months with diplomatic successes in resolving local conflicts, and as traditional powers such as France and the United States pull back from the continent, according to analysts and diplomats.
An annual diplomacy forum in the southern Mediterranean resort of Antalya on April 11-13 drew many African officials, including the president of Somalia, as part of Ankara’s efforts to consolidate its foothold in Africa.
“Today African countries are looking for alternatives, and Turkey represents one of those options, so it has resonated well in Africa,” Professor Eghosa Osaghae, director general of the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs, who attended the forum, told Agence France-Presse.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan boosted his international standing after backing rebels who overthrew Syrian ruler Bashar al-Assad and brokering a key Horn of Africa peace deal between Somalia and Ethiopia.
Ankara, which also hosted two rounds of talks between Russia and Ukraine at the start of the war, has often said it is ready to support any initiative leading to peace between its two Black Sea neighbors.
The Antalya forum was also attended by Syria’s new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha.
For Osaghae, whether Turkey can fill the vacuum in Africa left by France, which has seen many of its former colonies turn away from it in recent years, would “depend a great deal on how attractive Turkey’s offers to African states will be.”
Speaking to AFP on the sidelines of the forum in Antalya, Ivory Coast’s foreign minister, Kacou Leon Adom, said, “We have relations with France that we are very proud of. But France doesn’t prevent us from having other partnerships.”
The west African nation is keen to work with Turkey in all sectors, including communications, trade, security, education and training, he said.
“All of that interests us. And from this perspective, Turkey is making us offers and we will consider them.”
‘Building block’
Many African countries are faced with challenges to their security, with groups such as the Somalia-based Al-Shabaab, Boko Haram from Nigeria and the Lord’s Resistance Army, which originated in Uganda, wreaking havoc.
“If it is possible for Turkey to give assistance in these areas, why not?” Osaghae said.
“The good thing is that many African countries already have military cooperation with Turkey. And that can be the building block for Turkish influence.”
Turkey has signed defense agreements with a number of states spanning the breadth of the continent, including Somalia, Libya, Kenya, Rwanda, Ethiopia, Nigeria and Ghana.
Those agreements have opened up contracts for Turkey’s defense industry, notably for its reputedly reliable and inexpensive drones.
According to Turkish diplomat Alp Ay, Turkey offers dialogue. He noted its success in getting Somalia and Ethiopia to end a bitter dispute that had sparked fears of conflict in the restive Horn of Africa.
“We are trying to ensure that Africa can find its own solutions to African problems,” said Ay, who works as Ankara’s special representative in negotiations between Somalia and the breakaway Somaliland region.
‘Africa needs mediators’
Tension increased last year after Ethiopia struck a deal with Somaliland, which unilaterally declared independence from Somalia in 1991 in a move not recognized by Mogadishu, to gain access to the sea.
But Ethiopia and Somalia announced a full restoration of diplomatic ties following a December deal mediated by Turkey.
Ay said the responsibility from now on would be on both sides to uphold the deal but that Turkey would continue to play its facilitator role. “We are hopeful,” he said.
A senior Somali diplomat likewise said Turkey played “a very assistive role in bringing the two countries together to resolve this issue.”
In a sign of Ankara’s growing influence, Erdoğan met wutg his Somali counterpart, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, on Saturday in Antalya.
“I think Turkey is playing a key role in Somalia,” the Somali diplomat said.
“And it is a positive role. Turkey is not only involved in security, it is also involved in other developmental projects in Somalia.”
Nigerian political scientist Osaghae said because there are many conflicts in the region, “Africa desperately needs mediators that are not only credible but are capable of doing the kinds of things that Turkish experience suggests.”
© Agence France-Presse