Turkiye-Africa Relations: A Case Study of Somalia, Nigeria, and Libya from Humanitarian and Security Perspectives.

• Author: Fakuade, Dolapo

Introduction

Turkiye's historical relations with Africa, especially North Africa, have a rich and enduring legacy that can be traced back to the era of the Ottoman Empire, which rarely ventured into countries South of the Sahara, to modern-day relations that span across the continent. Ozkan splits the history of Turkish-African relations into three key periods: Ottoman Empire to 1923, 1923 to 1998, and 1998 to the present. (1) However, it is not the era in which the relations are divided, but the nature, impacts, and drivers of the relations. For instance, after the dismantlement of the Soviet Union and increasing adoption and conversion to free market economies, many countries in Africa embraced emerging powers such as China, Brazil, and Russia. These emerging powers had different approaches compared to historical colonial powers such as France and Britain, as well as the influence of the U.S. Yet, the emerging globalized economy and rising population made engagement with Africa fruitful, acting as an impetus for others. (2) Turkiye, being a supporter of processes leading to decolonization periods, then began diplomatic relations with many countries further South of the continent, including Ghana, Nigeria, and Sudan. (3) As such, Turkiye has begun to increase its influence and collaboration with countries within Africa, beginning with the proclamation that 2005 was "the year of Africa" and being considered a strategic partner of Africa in 2008. (4) Since then, Turkiye has had observer status over numerous economic organizations, including the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the East African Community (EAC), and the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), as well as sustained its engagement. (5) Through this, Turkiye had established 20 new embassies in Africa and had increased the number to 43 by 2021. (6) In order to lessen its dependency on Western nations, Turkiye is increasingly engaging with countries in Africa to strategically develop international and diplomatic relations that will continue to pay dividends. This is an exemplar of how soft power approaches can be adopted to enhance influence and power on the continent and continue to pave the way for Turkiye's security and humanitarian policies. Soft power is often synonymized with other key terms, such as "diplomacy," as opposed to hard power, which is associated with military action. In the present day, Turkiye's use of soft power is characterized by its democratized and economically open nature, which is able to combine Islam and democracy and acts as an inspiration to many Arab countries. (7) As a result, Turkiye continues to show promising and positive impacts on the continent, particularly through its security and humanitarian policies examined in subsequent sections of this paper.

Turkiye's Security Policies in Africa

Turkiye has become a more prominent actor within the African continent, with Africa also solidifying a position in Turkiye's foreign policy in recent decades. The new concept of a "scramble for Africa" has gained prominence amongst academics. This scramble is often likened to the Cold War, with Western powers (U.S. and Europe) vying against Eastern powers (China, Russia, UAE, Qatar), similar to the U.S.-Soviet Union rivalry in the past. (8) The meaning of Turkiye's policy in Africa stems from the paradoxical curse of the continent, which contains some of the poorest nations that are richest in resources. Resources such as oil, gas, diamonds, and other minerals in terms of economy as well as agriculturally through cacao, vanilla, and palm oil continue to attract all who are interested. All of these resources in abundance for Africa as a whole are essential materials for industrial production; thus, an increase in demand as well as supply for industrial productions by default increases the pressure on Africa's resources. One argument for Turkiye's adoption of security policies on the continent is the potential for conversions of economic structures and markets. One challenge of Turkiye's relations with Africa revolves around the economic and political stability of its own internal structures. If the politics and/or economics of Turkiye are damaged or voided, then it threatens the capabilities of developmental and humanitarian aid that it can provide to Africa, and this threatens their relations. Turkiye has recently begun a new phase of security-related implementations through the use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).

In terms of physical security (i.e., military), Turkiye already provides armored vehicles, infantry weapons, and naval equipment to African countries in order to increase their national and international security and defense. (9) Turkiye adopted the use of UAVs during the Libyan civil war between 2014 and 2020, which proved to be efficient and performed well. The civil war erupted due to political conflicts stemming from the assassination of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011. (10) Turkiye, along with Qatar, Italy, and support from the United Nations (UN), backed the Government National Accord (GNA), which was the internationally recognized leading party of Libya. With a lack of support from Western nations, the GNA relied on Turkiye to aid in their side of the conflict. In 2019, Turkiye signed a military deal, meaning that at the GNA's request, Turkiye would deploy troops in Libya as well as sign a maritime deal to delimit maritime borders. (11) With Turkiye's support, a permanent ceasefire of conflict was signed in 2020 to end the war, with the GNA ruling Libya in coalition with the Second al-Thani Cabinet to form the Government of National Unity (GNU). (12) This is arguably one of Turkiye's greatest feats in African security and defense, but one that is by no means soft power, which the country wants to be known for. One positive aspect of Turkiye's relationship with African countries is its affiliation with religion. 98 percent of the Turkish population is Muslim, as well as the ruling party (AK Party) has an Islamic identity. (13) This enables stronger relationships to form in countries in Africa that also have populations that are predominantly Muslim, such as Sudan and Somalia. This also allows for security policies to be readily adopted by such countries from Turkiye. Regardless of the position adopted to examine Turkiye's security policies, it is evident that such policies are interlinked with the humanitarian aid...