Turks becoming targets in Africa as Erdogan colonial ambitions grow

Ahmed Adel

The foreign policies and expansionist ambitions of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Africa and his support to terrorist organizations allowed Turks nationals working in the region to become targets.

At least three people were killed and more than 20 others,  including Turkish nationals, were wounded when a car bomb targeting foreign nationals exploded on January 18 in the town of Afgoye in Somalia.

Al-Shabaab has claimed responsibility for the attack, which wounded at least six Turkish nationals.

Two Turkish nationals, a foremen and a construction worker, were among more than 80 killed in late December in a bomb attack on a checkpoint near Mogadishu.

Also in July 2019, Sources said four Turkish citizens were kidnapped in the southern Nigerian state of Ilorin by unidentified men, raising the toll of Turks abducted over a week in the west African country to 14.

Turkey seeks to increase its influence in the African Horn region, especially Somalia; in October 2017, Turkey opened its largest overseas military base in Somalia. The $50 million base was opened to initially train more than 10,000 soldiers, however, in reality, terrorist organizations in the war-torn country receive financial support from Ankara and Doha.

The relation between Turkey and Al-Shabaab terrorist group, which is an affiliate of al-Qaeda, includes a state of hidden roles, as sometimes they appear as enemies, while in reality, both have common interests, which are being carried away via the mediation of the Muslim Brotherhood terrorist organization.

In February 2018, Bashiir Salaad, head of the so-called pro-Muslim Brotherhood Hay’adda Culumada Soomaaliyeed (Somalia Scholars Association), revealed in a speech in 2018 the existence of strong relations between Erdogan and al-Shabaab, which allows Ankara to become the only party capable of mediation between the terrorist organization and the government.

Also, Ankara sought to spread in the African Sahel region, and announced 2005 as “the year of Africa”, and in 2008 the first ever Turkey-Africa Cooperation Summit in Istanbul took place with the participation of representatives from fifty African countries.

In June 2008, Turkey joined the forum of the Intergovernmental Authority on East African Development (IGAD), strengthening its relations with sub-African organizations such as the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

African countries voted unanimously on Turkey’s non-permanent membership in the UN Security Council for 2009-2010, and the number of Ankara’s embassies in Africa increased to 44, while the number was 12 in 2004.

Economically, in November 2016, Ankara hosted the first African-Turkish business forum attended by three thousand participants, among whom two thousand represent the economic community of 45 African countries, during which dozens of agreements were signed with South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana, Zambia and Tanzania.

Moreover, following the year 2012, Ankara’s interests in Africa extended to include humanitarian aid, health, education, and military cooperation; as in October 2014, the Turkish Maritime Task Force (Barbaros) visited 25 ports in 24 African countries, with this mission, Turkey used the navy as a tool of foreign policy for the first time.

Turkish affairs expert Mohamed Rabie told The Reference in an interview that Erdogan’s expansionist and colonial ambitions surpassed the Arab world to reach Africa, developing hatred towards Turks in general, not just towards the Turkish regime.

He added that African citizens hate Turkish labor in Africa because of Erdogan’s constant announcements regarding a historic relation between Turkey and Africa, as part of the Ottoman Empire, while the Turks are promoting for the goal of Erdogan’s AK Party, which is the return Islam to the political scene, in addition to the suspicious Turkish goals in Africa, and the provision of funds and weapons to terrorists inside the continent.