Militarizing politics and arming help.. Erdoğan’s Terrorist Game in Africa’s Jungle
Under the presidency of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Turkey continues their expansionist policy and achieving its strategic goals by supporting extremist groups in the Sahel, Sahara and West Africa, where they engage in all forms of support for African countries such as : Niger, Chad, Mali and Burkina Faso, where tribal, ethnic and ethnic conflicts are active, extremist organizations are active and in constant need of weapons.
Stray weapons
The statements of the Nigerian President, Muhammad Bukhari, on the effect of “stray weapons” in Libya on the deterioration of the security of African countries have renewed doubts and fears that these weapons could fall into the hands of terrorist groups within the black continent.
Aid mask
According to reports by “Turkey Now” website, Turkey is hiding behind the mask of humanitarian aid in Africa as a cover for arms smuggling, and it is moving in all directions, military, economic, cultural and religious, to establish their presence on a continent left to its fate in many situations, especially in the face of the epidemic. It pointed out that direct humanitarian support has enabled Turkey to control almost all of Somalia.
Implicit finance
According to reports, Turkey is pursuing a planned funding strategy for cultural and sports projects and mosques in Africa to show concern for religion and building mosques, which makes it easier for it to infiltrate the continent without any problems. In 2018, a Turkish institution granted Ghana one of the largest mosques in West Africa and a school for imams, and in late 2019 Djibouti opened the largest mosque with funding from the same institution of the Justice and Development Party.
According to a study issued by the Libyan Institute of Security Studies and Research, Ankara turned Libya into a transit country for their secret arms shipments to several parties on the African continent, using the security agreement it had concluded with the reconciliation government in November 2019.
The total number of these flights between March and the end of December 2020 was about 172, with an estimated 37 tons of weapons likely to be transported to organizations with which Turkey had previously cooperated, such as al-Qaeda and extremist elements in West Africa, the study said.
Turkish expansion
A study entitled “Turkish expansion of the Sahel, Sahara and West Africa: Motives and Implications” by researcher Ahmed Askar in August 2020, that Turkey is engaged in a long-term strategy to build strong relations with the Sahel and West Africa, through which it seeks to expand its political, economic and military presence on the African continent after it has strengthened its presence in the East African region and the Horn of Africa through the Somalia gate, which may enhance tensions in the region which is considered a stage of many international and regional actors.
The study indicated that Ankara has strengthened its relations with most countries in the region, such as Niger, Chad, Mali, Burkina Faso and Mauritania, in light of the chronic crises they face, such as the spread of terrorism, the expansion of poverty, famine and ethnic and tribal conflicts, which Ankara has exploited as a gateway to enhancing its presence.
Axis formation
According to the study, Turkey’s actions are primarily aimed at reshaping the regional axes and the international balance of power in the region, especially in light of the growing Turkish-French rivalry, which reveals some of Turkey’s objectives in the Sahel-Saharan region.
According to the reports of the Turkey Now website, Ankara attaches great importance to the African Department in the security field, as Turkish policy has become more militarized since 2015 with the aim of expanding its geopolitical influence in the region and continent. This is what emerged in the security cooperation agreements concluded by Ankara with most countries in the region, such as Mauritania, Gambia, Côte d’Ivoire, Chad, Guinea, Nigeria and Benin Desert.
Militarization of politics
Moreover, reports have suggested that Ankara is seeking to establish a military base in Africa, particularly in Niger near the border with Libya, giving it a public foothold in a third African country, after Somalia and Libya.
