Power war continues – Erdogan’s colonial plans in some African countries
A European report highlights Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s colonial aspirations, which he has clearly pursued in some African countries like Libya.
According to a report by The Economist, Turkey and France entered into a conflict in Libya before spreading to West Africa, the Sahel and the Maghreb, Channel 218 reported.
The report noted that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan challenged French influence by playing on the image of France as a historical colonial power, and used this image to gain new domains of influence with local support in several regions, sending a number of Turkish soldiers and Syrian mercenaries to Libya to limit European influence there.
The report described Erdogan’s actions as a “show of muscle” by the Turkish president in Libya and Africa, after his army had already been engaged in a multilateral war in Syria.
The report also drew attention to the military agreements that Turkey has signed with several African countries, such as Nigeria, Senegal, and Togo. It noted that most of the African ambassadors appointed to Turkey are generals in their countries’ armies.
Turkey’s involvement in Africa, despite its accelerating pace, has sometimes led to Turkish confrontation with other outside powers, but Turkey’s economic, military, and diplomatic influence is still far from that of the US, China, and other European powers in Africa, the report concluded.
