Erdogan's conquest of Africa
Turkey hopes that more muscular foreign policy moves in the Gulf and Africa will help neutralize increasing pressure from a Russia-led alliance.
Amid President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's recent West African tour, from Feb. 28 to March 4 and including visits to Ivory Coast, Ghana, Nigeria and Guinea, news reports surfaced of Turkey establishing a military presence on the strategic Horn of Africa, in Somalia. This development will make Turkey the fifth foreign country to have a military presence in Africa, joining Britain, France, Japan and the United States.
According to the reports, carried extensively by the pro-government media under such headlines as “New Turkey Spreads to Four Continents,” a training mission requested by the Somali government will prepare the national army to take on al-Shabab, the terror organization that attacked the Turkish Embassy in Mogadishu in 2013. In this regard, Turkey will provide elite military training on counterterrorism, border security, force protection and small unit action.
