Turkey pledged on Sunday to deepen its relations with Africa, inviting it to diplomatically support the Palestinians, during a summit with African countries organized in Djibouti.
Turkey has invested heavily in Africa in recent years, and its President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has made 50 visits to 31 countries during his two decades in power.
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Fourteen African countries participated in the latest ministerial meeting this weekend in Djibouti, a small country in the Horn of Africa: Angola, Chad, Comoros, Republic of Congo, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea , Ghana, Libya, Mauritania, Nigeria, South Sudan, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, who chaired the summit, said trade with the continent exceeded $35 billion (32.3 billion euros) last year and direct investment from the Turkey now amounted to 7 billion dollars (6.5 billion euros).
“Turkey has a comprehensive approach to strengthening its trade and economic partnership with the continent,” Fidan said in a speech.
Turkey has become sub-Saharan Africa’s fourth largest arms supplier and has contributed to the training of many countries’ armed forces.
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Ankara has tried in recent months to mediate growing tensions between Ethiopia and Somalia, and concluded a mining deal with Niger.
Mr. Fidan reiterated his support for the African Union to become a permanent member of the G20, as well as for the reform of the United Nations Security Council, where African countries are demanding permanent seats.
“We must continue our efforts to make the United Nations more relevant and better able to meet the complex challenges of this century. Reform of the Security Council is essential in this regard,” he said.
The Turkish minister also called for greater involvement of Africa in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. “Africa can play a decisive role in supporting the Palestinian cause and stopping Israel,” he said.
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“We appreciate the African countries which support Palestine,” he added, welcoming the recent submission by South Africa to the International Criminal Court of “evidence” of the “genocide” committed according to it by Israel in Gaza.
The next Türkiye-Africa summit is scheduled for 2026.
Par Le360 Africa (with AFP)
03/11/2024 at 1:58 p.m.
