Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan criticized Europe’s colonial history because he launched a new propaganda campaign for his country to increase trade and investment relations with Africa. China competes with Europe.
Erdogan told Angolan lawmakers on Monday (October 18) when he began his 30-day trip in Luanda: “The destiny of mankind cannot and should not be at the mercy of a few victors of the Second World War. .” Angola, Togo and Nigeria.
Erdogan’s whistle blowing tour was followed by the two-day Turkey-Africa Trade Summit in Istanbul, which began on Thursday.
He added that “ignoring the request for change is unfair to Africa” and pointed out that Turkey “has no imperialism or colonialism stains” and refused to adopt the “West-centric Orientalist approach” in Africa, which is against Europe. The country and the obvious sarcasm of Chinese neo-colonialism. .
In recent years, as the political and economic relations between Europe and Ankara have become increasingly tense, Erdogan is keen to diversify the country’s trade away from Europe. At present, two-thirds of Turkey’s trade and investment financing comes from Europe.
The trade volume between Turkey and Africa has increased from USD 5.5 billion in 2003 to USD 25.3 billion in 2020. At the same time, in terms of politics, Erdogan has visited more African countries than any non-African leader, and expanded the number of Turkish embassies on the African continent. Since taking office in 2009, it has increased from 12 to 43. .
After the business summit in Istanbul, Turkish and African political leaders will hold a summit in December.
Turkey is part of an increasingly crowded field of international players who want to sign contracts with African countries and strengthen trade ties.
The EU’s plan to establish a “strategic partnership” with Africa was derailed by the pandemic. The EU and the African Union will finally hold a ministerial meeting in Kigali, the capital of Rwanda, next week. The previously postponed summit of heads of government is now scheduled for early 2022.
In the past two years, India, France, the United Kingdom, and Japan have all hosted their own summits focusing on Africa.
Turkey’s most obvious political influence on the African continent is in North Africa, especially Libya, where it provides military support to the UN-supported government of national unity. It also recently reached a military cooperation agreement with Morocco.
Erdogan’s invasion of Francophone Africa prompted the French government to accuse the Turkish president of trying to arouse “postcolonial resentment”.
In the Horn of Africa, Turkey is competing for influence with Russia, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.
[Edited by Zoran Radosavljevic]
