By Dr. Senem Cevik
CALIFORNIA, U.S.
Many observers are curious about Turkey’s quite recent interest in Sub-Saharan Africa. In fact, when Turkey said 2005 was the ‘Year of Africa’, I asked myself the same question. Why was Turkey investing its energy in Africa?
Throughout the early 2000s, there were a very limited number of exchanges and interactions between Turkey and African countries. Turkey’s traditional interest lied in its affairs with the European Union. Nonetheless, Turkey and Africa share a long history preceding the establishment of modern Turkey, which is why Turkey should be considered an Afro-Eurasian country.
North and East Africa have traditionally witnessed the rivalry between Ottoman and Portuguese navies. Also, the Ottoman Empire had been by the side of East African communities by providing defense against colonial forces.
To this day, Tripoli is known as the very last Ottoman province in contemporary Turkish consciousness. Besides, Africa has been seen a surge in growth and countries such as Nigeria, South and Kenya are considered emerging economies in the region. Although Turkey had a period of disengagement with Africa during the Cold War.
Turkish aid in Namibia
Today, Turkey has 39 diplomatic representations alongside other state agencies that complement Turkey’s engagement with Africa. The Maarif Foundation, Yunus Emre Institute, the Directorate of Religious Affairs (Diyanet) and Turkish Airlines are key actors in furthering Turkey-Africa relations.
However, the most notable and well-established institution amongst these is the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA), which operates in 17 African countries where further economic and cultural growth is predicted.
As part of my ongoing research in outlining a pattern of Turkish foreign aid in Africa and Latin America, two continents that constitute recent openings, I recently visited Namibia in search for some of these patterns of Turkish aid practice.
Namibia, a former German colony and a country occupied by South Africa for decades, has not been on Turkey’s radar until the opening of a Turkish embassy in 2012. Together with the establishment of a TIKA program-coordination office in 2014, Turkey’s presence in Namibia has grown exponentially.
In a country of two million, where Turkey was fairly unknown to local residents, Namibia represents an outstanding example of cooperation between the Turkish embassy and TIKA in attempts to expand Turkey’s presence by way of development aid and cultural engagement.
As of this date, more than 50 projects have been completed or are under consideration in Namibia that represent Turkey’s engagement in the region. TIKA’s projects in Namibia are a wide array of development assistance ranging from establishing computer labs in universities, thus ensuring access to global information and connectivity for Namibian college students, to preserving cheetah wildlife, thus contributing solutions to a growing environmental concern.
In addition, future projects are underway in establishing safe playgrounds and educational spaces for underprivileged students, which is vital in fostering an enhanced learning experience for young Namibians who represent a majority of the population.
TIKA in Namibia
In essence, TIKA’s main objective in Namibia is to provide assistance and sustainable living conditions to underprivileged Namibians, and in doing so establish better relations between two countries.
However, Turkey’s foreign aid structure, as it is with other aid agencies across the globe, is not limited to giving aid. My observations from the field narrowed Turkey’s commitment to Namibia to a number of aspects.
First, Turkey desires to build a positive image among Namibians by increasing its presence. Since Turkey was not widely known prior to the opening of the Turkish embassy, it is important to close that information gap which may come from not knowing Turkey at all.
Turkey’s trade with Africa has grown exponentially since the Year of Africa in 2005. For that reason, the second factor in Turkey’s engagement with Namibia is establishing and furthering trade. Also, Turkey has sought to expand the destinations Turkish Airlines serves across Africa.
As a result of continuous efforts by the Turkish embassy in Windhoek and the TIKA Program Coordination Office, Turkish Airlines signed a codeshare agreement with Air Namibia earlier in 2017.
As a third factor, the expansion of Turkish Airlines’ partnership has the dual potential of increasing trade and tourism with Namibia.
By way of increasing its presence and engaging in projects that involve other international partners, Turkey is aiming to foster a positive image among other countries operating in Namibia.
In doing so, as a fourth objective, Turkey seeks to demonstrate its capacity to countries with more established aid agencies in regions such as Germany, Sweden, the United States and China.
In addition to all of these objectives, Turkey’s official presence in Sub-Saharan Africa is an invaluable asset in Turkey’s battle against the Terrorist Organization (), which has well-established cells and networks in the region.
Turkey’s official engagement with Namibia will serve as the cornerstone of efforts to keep FETO’s propaganda and networks away from the region.
Ankara's foreign aid framework is oftentimes dubbed as the ‘Turkish model’, which reflects the approach Turkey takes in providing foreign aid.
The type of projects, turnout time, allocation of resources and direct access to local coordination office are part and parcel of the Turkish model. Although it has a number of strengths, the Turkish model has room for improvement to ensure the greatest success. Given Turkey’s relatively limited capacity within its diplomatic corps and other state agencies in terms of budget and human resources, such means should be allocated to projects that carry the potential to generate the maximum advantage.
Long-term relations
A well thought-out strategy, as well as objectives, for different African countries and the whole continent based on Turkey’s and the recipient’s is fundamental in consolidating a uniquely Turkish style of foreign aid.
In that regard, several projects commenced in Namibia, such as, wildlife conservation projects and initiatives that fight to empower women. These projects reach audiences outside of Namibia by way of other organizations partaking in similar development projects and at the same time bring about change to the lives of the aid recipients.
In addition, projects on enhancing communication technology , such as equipment and training support in radio and television broadcasting across Africa, including Namibia, have the potential to create long-term relations.
To conclude, Turkey should not neglect Africa and should gradually expand its diplomatic presence particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa.
However, it is important to align regional objectives and aspirations with an awareness of the limitations that might hinder efforts on the ground. Therefore it is imperative for Turkey to locally establish supportive agencies such as TIKA, and draft a long-term regional and country based strategy.
Author’s Disclaimer: This opinion piece is based on the author’s field work on Turkey’s development coordination in Namibia which is led by the efforts of TIKA and the Turkish Embassy in Windhoek. The author would like to thank the TIKA Windhoek Program Coordination Office and the Turkish embassy in Windhoek for their logistical support in facilitating the field work.
*Opinions expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Anadolu Agency.
