JOHANNESBURG
Relations between Türkiye and South Africa are flourishing at all levels, from politics to trade/investment and person-to-person, Türkiye's ambassador to Pretoria told Anadolu Agency.
“After the lifting of restrictions related to the pandemic, South Africans have started to travel to Türkiye in large numbers again,” Aysegul Kandas said in an interview.
South Africans can now apply online for a free e-visa to Türkiye, “they don’t need to come to the embassy in Pretoria,” she said.
Kandas also said Turkish nationals can equally travel to South Africa for 30 days without a visa.
“This benefits tourist and business relations between our peoples," said the top diplomat, who is also accredited to Eswatini and Lesotho, two smaller landlocked countries.
Trade and investments
Kandas said the COVID-19 pandemic hit business and tourism between the two countries, but after the lifting of restrictions around the middle of last year, things started to improve.
“The volume of trade between Türkiye and South Africa reached $2 billion at the end of 2021 and we’re hoping to reach $3 billion soon,” she said.
Many Turkish companies have invested in the South African economy, with the most prominent and exemplary being Arcelik, a major small household appliance producer in Türkiye.
The company owns well-known South African appliance brand DEFY, generating jobs for 2,500 people, and contributes to South African exports to the Southern African Development Community bloc of 16 countries.
Turkish defense giant Aselsan also manages its sub-Saharan Africa operations through its subsidiary in South Africa.
Turkish entrepreneurs have also set up stores in such sectors as clothing, food, carpets, and furniture, among others.
Tourism
Kandas said her embassy has been cooperating with Tourism South Africa and Gauteng Tourism to boost the tourism industries of both countries.
“Tourism agencies of both Türkiye and South Africa are working on projects like trips and tours and travel operators to each other’s countries to promote tourism.”
She said especially since this January, Turkish Airlines flights have been packed with travelers from both countries.
Though the Southern Hemisphere and South Africa are currently in winter, in Türkiye it is a warm mid-summer, and so “a lot of South Africans are going to Türkiye for vacation,” she said.
Culture and educational collaboration
Kandas said cultural ties between the two countries are also flourishing, citing the role of the Yunus Emre Institute, a nonprofit spreading Turkish language and culture worldwide.
The institute’s Johannesburg branch “holds concerts, exhibitions, and conferences, and teaches Turkish art as well as Turkish to South Africans,” she said, adding that this has boosted cultural ties.
Abdulaziz Yigit, head of the Johannesburg branch and the Turkish Cultural Center, says there is an overwhelming interest among South Africans who visit the institute daily wanting to know more about Türkiye.
“Many professional South Africans and students have enrolled at our institute to learn Turkish because they want to use it for either business or academic purposes,” he said.
Yigit added that the institute collaborates with local cultural bodies and institutions in South Africa, which helps cement ties.
Kandas also said South Africans benefit annually from the Türkiye Scholarships program under the auspices of the Presidency of Turks Living Abroad to study in Türkiye at either the undergrad or postgraduate level.
“South Africans and other African students who graduate from Turkish universities eventually become our ambassadors promoting Türkiye.”
The diplomat said Türkiye and South Africa also enjoy close cooperation in scientific research.
This May Türkiye donated a digital fabrication lab to Johannesburg’s Wits University, she said, adding that the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency “provided both equipment and training for 3D design, modelling and fabrication to the academic staff at the Engineering Faculty. Participants of the training program got their certificates from me and Vice Chancellor Zeblon Vilakazi.”
She said her office is also in talks with a top local university over the possibility of establishing a Turkish studies center which would see the exchange of academics from both sides.
