Viewpoint: Turkey as a “political” actor in Africa – an assessment of Turkish involvement in Somalia

Abstract

The crisis of food security in Somalia in 2011 prompted an increase in Turkish involvement in Eastern African politics. Initially started as a humanitarian response, Ankara's policy has evolved into a fully fledged Somalia policy with political and social dimensions. This article discusses the role and influence of Turkey in efforts bringing stability to Somalia. It is argued that Turkey's Somalia policy, as far as it has succeeded in short term, has not only located Turkey as a “political” actor in Africa but also expanded Turkey's Africa policy into a more complex and multifaceted one. As such, Turkey's experience in Somalia will have significant implications for its broader African agenda.

Keywords:

• Turkey
• Somalia
• foreign policy
• aid
• civil society
• famine

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. For Turkish involvement in Somalia, see Akpınar, “Turkey's Peacebuilding in Somalia”; Tank, Turkey's New Humanitarian Approach in Somalia; and Ozkan, Turkey's Involvement in Somalia.

2. For example, see “Somali Ambassador Nur Sheikh Hamud Mursal: We regret discovering Turkey very late”, Today's Zaman, 16 April 2012 http://www.todayszaman.com/newsDetail_getNewsById.action;jsessionid=B854569300A001B106738DF9A56D096D?newsId=277676 (accessed 10 October 2012).

3. “Al-Shabaab claim attack on Turkish mission in Somalia, three dead”, Reuters, 27 July 2013, http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/07/28/us-somalia-conflict-idUSBRE96Q0A420130728 (accessed 20 August 2013).

4. See “SOMALIA: President of Somalia's Statement on the Terrorist Attack on the SYL Hotel in Mogadishu: ‘al-Shabaab Seek To Thrive On Headlines: Tomorrow We Will Give You Better Headlines’”, RBC Radio, http://www.raxanreeb.com/2015/01/somalia-president-of-somalias-statement-on-the-terrorist-attack-on-the-syl-hotel-in-mogadishu-al-shabaab-seek-to-thrive-on-headlines-tomorrow-we-will-give-you-better-headlines/ (accessed 18 March 2015).

5. See Lindley, “Displacement in contested places”.

6. See OCHA, “Somalia: 2015 Humanitarian Needs Overview”.

7. See Hammond, “Somalia rising”.

8. This section draws largely on Ozkan, “Turkey's Religious and Socio-Political Depth in Africa”. See also Ozkan, Turkey's Involvement in Somalia.

9. For earlier involvement that lead to this process, see Ozkan and Akgun, “Turkey's Opening to Africa”.

10. For economic dimension of the relations, see Ozkan, “A New Actor or Passer-by?”

11. Indeed, Erdogan argued that the case of Somalia is a “litmus test” for the international community. See, “BM’ye Somali albümü”, Sabah, 23 August 2011.

12. See Hasimi, “Turkey's Humanitarian Diplomacy and Development Cooperation”.

13. See Farrell, “Understanding Turkish involvement in Somalia”.

14. See Ozkan, “A Post-2014 Vision for Turkey-Africa Relations”.

15. Especially development of relations between Turkey and South Africa can be considered as this sort since 2010.

16. “Güney Afrika vizesi kalkıyor”, Al-Jazeera Turk, 20 September 2011.

17. See the Turkish Ministry of Economy website for trade figures: http://www.economy.gov.tr/portal/faces/home/disIliskiler/ulkeler/africa?_afrLoop=399765660791261&_afrWindowMode=0&_afrWindowId=uxy397c0r_70#!%40%40%3F_afrWindowId%3Duxy397c0r_70%26_afrLoop%3D399765660791261%26_afrWindowMode%3D0%26_adf.ctrl-state%3Duxy397c0r_90 (accessed 9 April 2015).

18. Address by Recep Tayyip Eroğan to the general debate of the 66th session of the UN General Assembly http://gadebate.un.org/sites/default/files/gastatements/66/TR_en.pdf (accessed 6 April 2015).

19. For details see “UNITED NATIONS OPERATION IN SOMALIA II: MISSION BACKGROUNDER”, http://www.un.org/Depts/DPKO/Missions/unosom2b.htm (accessed 12 August 2012); also, see International Crisis Group, Assessing Turkey's Role in Somalia.

20. For example, see “Hate for Bir, love for Erdoğan”, Today's Zaman, 17 April 2012 http://www.todayszaman.com/turkish-press-review_hate-for-bir-love-for-erdogan_277754.html (accessed 6 April 2015).

21. See “Principles of Turkish Foreign Policy”, Address by H.E. Foreign Minister of Republic of Turkey Davutoğlu, 8 December 2009, Washington, DC http://arsiv.setav.org/ups/dosya/14808.pdf (accessed 10 May 2010).

22. See “Davutoğlu: ‘Somali Görev Gücü’ oluşturuldu”, 17 August 2011, Zaman, http://www.zaman.com.tr/newsDetail_getNewsById.action?haberno=1170269 (accessed 10 September 2012).

23. See Davutoğlu, Address to 5th Annual Meeting of Ambassadors, Ankara, 2 January 2013, http://www.mfa.gov.tr/disisleri-bakani-sayin-ahmet-davutoglu_nun-v_-buyukelciler-konferansinda-yaptigi-konusma_-2-ocak-2013_-ankara.tr.mfa (accessed 15 January 2013).

24. See Islamic leaders respond to Turkish plea for Somalia famine aid, Deutsche Welle, 17 August 2011 http://www.dw.de/islamic-leaders-respond-to-turkish-plea-for-somalia-famine-aid/a-15324271-1 (accessed 7 April 2015).

25. See “OIC members vow to donate $350 million to Somalia”, 18 August 2011, Middle East Online, http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=47685 (accessed 6 April 2015).

26. See Aynte, “Turkey's Increasing Role in Somalia”.

27. See Heaton, “Saving Somalia”.

28. See Erdogan, “Tears of Somalia”.

29. See “The Second İstanbul Conference on Somalia, Final Declaration”, 1 June 2012, İstanbul, http://www.mfa.gov.tr/the-second-istanbul--conference-on-somalia_-final-declaration_-1-june-2012_-istanbul.en.mfa (accessed 20 March 2015); See also, “United Somalia a Must: Davutoğlu”, Al Shahid, http://english.alshahid.net/archives/29081 (accessed 7 April 2015).

30. See Erdogan, “Tears of Somalia”.

31. See “Somali president pays visit to Turkish parliament head”, 5 December 2012, Anadolu Agency, http://www.aa.com.tr/en/tag/108299--somali-president-pays-visit-to-turkish-parliament-head (accessed 6 April 2015).

32. See “Somali’nin askerini Türkiye yetiştirecek”, 7 December 2012, Yeni Şafak, http://www.yenisafak.com.tr/gundem-haber/somalinin-askerini-turkiye-yetistirecek-07.12.2012-433154 (accessed 6 April 2015).

33. See “Türkiye-Somali Ticaret ve Yatırım Forumu”, 6 December 2012, http://www.tuskon.org/?p=content&gl=faaliyetler&cl=faaliyet&i=419 (accessed 6 April 2015).

34. See Farrell, “Understanding Turkish Involvement in Somalia”.

35. See Abukar Arman, “Erdogan: The Hero of Somalia”, 21 January 2015, Al-Jazeera, http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2015/01/visit-erdogan-somalia-2015121124331818818.html (accessed 6 April 2015).

36. See Aynte, “Turkey's Increasing Role in Somalia”.

37. See Richard Lough, “Turkey tries out soft power in Somalia”, Reuters, http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/06/03/somalia-turkey-idUSL5E8GP2LP20120603 (accessed 15 December 2012).

38. See “Somali halkına nitelikli tarım öğretiliyor”, İHH website, 6 June 2014, http://www.ihh.org.tr/tr/main/news/0/somali-halkina-nitelikli-tarim-ogretiliyor/2362 (accessed 6 April 2015).

39. See “Somali hastanemizin kolonları bağlandı”, 26 February 2013, Yardımeli Derneği, http://www.yardimeli.org.tr/h=18601?somali-hastanemizin-kolonlari-baglandi#.VSOhdNysXQQ (accessed 6 April 2015).

40. See “Deniz Feneri Somali’de kalıcı işler yapıyor”, Deniz Feneri Derneği, http://www.denizfeneri.org.tr/bagisci/afrika_137/somali_58/ (accessed 6 April 2015).

41. See “Cansuyu Derneği Somali’ye okul yaptıracak”, 30 July 2012, Haberler.com, http://www.haberler.com/cansuyu-dernegi-somali-ye-okul-yaptiracak-3824336-haberi/ (accessed 6 April 2015).

42. See Farrell, “Understanding Turkish Involvement in Somalia”.

43. See “Somali’de bir Türk yaralandı”, Sabah, http://www.sabah.com.tr/Dunya/2012/10/03/somalide-bir-turk-yaralandi (accessed 09 April 2015).

44. See Orakçı, “Somali’nin geleceği ve 2015 hedefleri”.

45. See Aynte, “Turkey's Increasing Role in Somalia”.

46. See Uluso, “Message from Istanbul II Conference”.

47. Anti-Western and anti-UN rethorics are often used by radical groups for many years to attract youth for their armed groups. The authors of this article also heard such beliefs expressed informally many times by people from different age groups and social backgrounds. On the other hand, many expressed informally warm feelings toward Turkey and appriciation of its Islamic face.

48. See “Somalia: Puntland and Galmudug say Turkey Conference is politically motivated”, AllAfrica.com, 27 May 2012 http://allafrica.com/stories/201205280352.html (accessed 30 November 2012).

49. See Yusuf Dirir Ali, “Somalia: Turkey is dead wrong”, Somaliland Press, 2 June 2012, http://www.somalilandpress.com/somalia-turkey-is-dead-wrong/ (accessed 10 December 2012).