IN AUGUST 2011, under the blazing African sun, a plane carrying the then prime minister and current President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, his family and a large delegation composed of the different segments of the Turkish state and society landed in Mogadishu. It was one of the first international flights destined for Somalia after a very long interval.

The flight turned the course of events in Somalia, which had been suffering from chronic instability and prolonged social strife, creating a serious humanitarian crisis, coinciding with severe drought and famine. That day a new partnership was born out of the ashes of civil war and humanitarian disaster, but it was only one example of Turkey’s commitment to Africa’s rejuvenation.Turkey has never held a colonial position or relationship on the continent. To the contrary, African nations looked for help from the Ottomans in their struggle against colonial oppressors. Furthermore, it is known that our war of independence, which we fought close to a century ago under the leadership of the founder of the Turkish Republic, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, has had a strong influence on Africans in their struggle for liberation and independence.

Turkey has never been indifferent to developments in Africa. History has brought Turkish and African people together, created an affinity among them and allowed them to establish strong ties. We have always been in solidarity with the African people in their struggle for freedom from colonialism and national independence.

Africa is a continent of opportunity. Turkey sees Africa as the cradle of civilization and one of the epicentres of the future of humanity. We rejoice at the political, democratic, economic, social and cultural rejuvenation and the process of transformation in so many African countries.

Turkey’s first diplomatic representation in sub-Saharan Africa goes back to the very beginning of the 20th century. The first Turkish consulate was established in 1912 in Harar, Ethiopia. Today, channels of interaction and communication are vastly expanded with about 39 Turkish embassies across the continent and embassies of 32 African countries in Ankara.

Yet, the large number of diplomatic representations is only one side of the coin. Person-to-person contacts have also been gaining strength. There are now thousands of people from Africa studying, working and living in Turkey and vice versa.

Turkish Airlines has become one of the major international carriers to the continent, flying directly to almost 40 destinations. There are ever-growing Turkish investments in a number of African countries. These employ local labour, use locally produced resources and export final products to third countries.

Turkish private businesses will be investing more than $100m in the coming two to three years in Mogadishu alone. In the past decade, total Turkish trade with sub-Saharan African countries has increased tenfold in volume.

Today, Turkey undertakes all that it can to effectively support the efforts of the African Union for lasting peace, genuine democracy, sustainable development and welfare for all. In 2013, Turkey ranked third in the world, after the US and the UK, in terms of total humanitarian assistance and first in terms of the ratio of its development assistance to its gross national product. We have accomplished almost all the goals we set out to realise following the Turkey-Africa Co-operation Summit of 2008.

Turkey embarked on a new policy in 2013. The Turkey-Africa Partnership has the motto of “African issues require African solutions” as its guiding principle. In the second Africa-Turkey Partnership Summit to be held in Malabo on November 19-21, we will lay out the groundwork for the next four years. The theme of the summit is “a new model for partnership for the strengthening of sustainable development and integration of Africa”. We will agree on new milestones and objectives in our common quest for further co-operation in the interests of both sides.

As part of this new partnership policy, we will establish close political relations by intensifying bilateral high level visits and by acting as the voice of Africa, advocating the rights and the positions of African nations both on a bilateral and multilateral level. We will partner African nations in the economic sphere to overcome challenges through more trade, investment and humanitarian assistance. Moreover, whenever requested, we will stand ready to play our diplomatic role to contribute to the peaceful settlement of conflicts and disputes.

Turkey will remain committed to fully supporting the African Union in achieving its goals, which will further consolidate African ownership of African issues. That is why we feel that it is a privilege for Turkey to be a strategic partner of the rising continent of Africa.

• Cavusoglu is minister of foreign affairs for the Republic of Turkey.

Source: BD Live