Turkey's African adventure

Back in the summer of 2008 I mused over Turkey's heightened interest in the African continent - Chinese style, if you will. It would appear that this interest has only bourgeoned in the face of the global economic crisis, with Africa quickly becoming somewhat of a playground for Turkish investors. From Global Post:

Historically, the Ottoman Empire had considerable relations with Africa — aided by the fact that African states such as Egypt, Libya, Algeria and Sudan were totally or partially subject to Ottoman rule. With the establishment of the Turkish Republic in 1923, however, contact between Turkey and Africa all but broke off

Over the past decade and a half, Turkish policymakers have carefully shaped an African dimension to Turkey’s foreign policy that is increasingly involved in a dizzying range of sectors from trade to transport, health to humanitarian aid.

Turkey has made inroads into Africa’s transport sector with scheduled flights of flagship carrier Turkish Airlines to regional hubs of Addis Ababa, Khartoum, Lagos, Johannesburg and, most recently, Nairobi.

Ankara also plans to venture into Africa’s maritime sector, with investment in key facilities such as the Port of Mombasa.

Last month, Abdullah Gul visited Kenya and Tanzania — becoming the first Turkish president to pay an official visit to these sub-Saharan nations — to expand Turkey's relations with the two. During his trip Gul pointed out that all but two African countries had supported Turkey's candidacy in 2008 for a two-year, nonpermanent seat on the UN Security Council.

Turkey and Africa, cont’d

In a series of earlier posts I had noted Turkey's growing interest in forging relations with Africa. According to The Jamestown Foundation, Afro-Turkish relations are indeed an emerging force in South-South cooperation: 

Turkish interest in Africa is underwritten by soaring bilateral trade: while Turkey's trade volume with the entire African continent was $5 billion in 2003, Gul noted that with government encouragement, Turkish-African trade had been increasing annually by double digit figures since 2004 and exceeded $12 billion last year, a figure that his government hoped to increase to $30 billion by 2010

According to the report, it appears that Turkey's approach to developing trade with African nations differs from that of China, or even the US. Unlike the macro-projects pursued by most Western donors (and China), Turkey is concentrated on lower profile development issues such as agriculture, which carries the promise of affecting positive change in the lives of many across the continent. The underperformance of the critical agriculture sector remains a major drag on Africa's development, and has been neglected by both donors and governments over the past two decades.  Turkish assistance may prove to be precisely the boost the continent needs.

Is Turkey pulling a China regarding Darfur?

Sudanese president al-Bashir is among those in attendance at this week's Turkey Africa Cooperation Summit being held in Istanbul. His presence has outraged many human rights activists, who feel that inviting al-Bashir signals Turkish complacency in the Darfur crisis. Among others, the New York based Human Rights Watch has called on Turkey to use the opportunity to support a court case against Bashir, who has been indicted on genocide charges by the ICC. There is little public evidence that such support has been given. 

At a private meeting, Turkish president Gul told Bashir that he should "work hard" to end the violence in Darfur, which is tantamount to telling a small child to 'play nice' in the sandbox, only for him to return to his previous antics as soon as no one is looking. Such requests are unlikely to shake Bashir, who has vowed never to turn any Sudanese over to the ICC, and does little in the way of ending the crisis in Darfur. 

Turkey's human rights record is itself laden with violations, especially as regards military-civilian relations and Article 301 of its constitution which prohibits "denigrating Turkishness." Nevertheless, the country is signatory to various human rights documents, among them the Universal Declaration on Human Rights, the European Convention on Human Rights, and the European Convention for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. As a country fervently seeking entry into the EU, it is moreover in Turkey's interest to choose its friends and allies carefully, as any misstep may cost it that coveted EU seat.

Yet with China rising in the international arena despite its unwillingness to 'save Darfur,' it is not surprising that a country like Turkey might not express particular concern, either. China's message is in many ways one of strategic and international success coupled with frequent disregard for the West and international doctrines. Under such an approach countries like China continue to gain international dominance and countries like Sudan are let off the hook. It's a dangerous form of realist politics that the global community shouldn't be too quick to tolerate.

Turkey-Africa Cooperation Summit underway

Taking place under the theme 'Solidarity and Partnership for a Common Future,' the four-day event began yesterday in Istanbul. This first summit meeting is intended to allow the leaders of both sides to take stock of the progress made in various areas of development cooperation and look at the future of their relations with a view to further developing and diversifying them.

In an earlier post I noted the benefits such partnership may boast for Turkey, the most obvious being access to resources. Not surprisingly, the country is now eager to sign cooperation accords with Angola where oil reserves are around the 20 billion barrel mark. Sudan's president Bashir is also in attendance at the Summit, likely for similar reasons.

The trade volume between Turkey and the continent allegedly rose by 140% between 2003 and 2007, and 55% in the first half of 2008. 

Turkey has declared 2008 as 'Africa's Year.' Africa also had a "year" in 2006, which belonged to the Chinese, and another in 2007 which was claimed by the Indians. At this rate I'm curious to see who will claim the continent come 2009.

South-South cooperation, or colonialism?

According to an article in today's Business Daily, a Kenyan-based newspaper, Turkey has become the latest emerging economy to join the scramble for African resources, with a continent-wide investment conference to be held in Istanbul in mid-August. 

Turkish focus appears targeted especially at Kenya; bilateral trade between the two countries capped at $90 million just last year. Indeed,  since the country's 2007 presidential upheaval, Turkey has become one of the key source markets for Kenyan consumer goods such as textiles, carpets, furniture and electronics for the newly rich. In February 2007, an article in the Turkish Daily News touted the positive economic byproducts of Kenya's "civil war" for the Turkish cut-flower industry. 

For a country like Turkey -  short on natural resources, desperately seeking admission to the EU and otherwise wanting to maintain and grow its economy - investing in Africa appears a sound business option. What I'm less certain of, however, is how this new phase of South-South cooperation will ultimately benefit the African continent. This is not to suggest that it necessarily won't, but I can't help but wonder: with China, Japan, India and now Turkey (as well as other developing countries - apologies to Japan for lumping it in this category) carving up the African continent, are we witnessing a new phase in productive economic partnerships, or a 21st century version of colonialism?