Africa is more essential than ever

The unprecedented conditions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic make the solidarity symbolized by Africa Day even more important this year.

The progress made by Africa in recent years in many fields and the development of the partnership between Turkey and the continent on the basis of a win-win understanding and mutual respect allow us to envisage the future with hope, despite the challenges.

We are working hard to develop our economic and commercial relations, increase our development and our humanitarian aid as well as the number of scholarships for higher education and Turkish Airlines flights.

A look at the numbers best indicates the determination of the Turks to bring relations to the highest level possible.

From just 12 in 2002, the number of our embassies on the continent has increased to 42, while there are 36 African embassies in Ankara compared to 10 in early 2008. Between 2015 and 2019, there were more than 500 high visits level.

The volume of bilateral trade has increased six-fold over the past 18 years. The Turkish Maarif Foundation manages 144 educational establishments and 17 student dormitories across Africa.

With 22 coordination offices of the Turkish Cooperation and Development Agency (TIKA) in Africa, thousands of students from 54 African countries have graduated from Turkish universities through the Trkiye scholarship program.

In addition to historical and human ties, foreign policy resulting from political stability in Turkey since 2002 has led to a strategic partnership with the African Union (AU).

Istanbul hosted the first Africa-Turkey Partnership Summit in 2008. Shortly after my appointment as Minister of Foreign Affairs, I accompanied President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to the second Africa-Turkey Partnership Summit in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea, in November 2014.

When African leaders founded the Organization of African Unity (OAU), the forerunner of the AU, on May 25, 1963, they sought to protect the affairs of the continents as a whole, united, by supporting the struggle for independence and rejecting the colonial economic model of exporting raw materials to import manufactured goods. Turkey has always taken the side of Africa in its just cause.

The historic Addis Ababa summit had an impact in Turkey. News in the Turkish press and reports of debates in the Grand National Assembly show the importance attached to ties with the new African states.

The quest for independence for Africans was compared to the turkey struggle when the republic was founded 40 years earlier, in 1923, and apartheid was fiercely condemned.

Today, Africa has made significant progress towards the integration dreamed of by visionary leaders since 1963, and Turkey will provide unconditional support for the AU’s goals for 2063.

This is why we wish to organize the third summit of the Africa-Turkey partnership as soon as possible. The third Turkey-Africa Forum on Economy and Business, which was held in Istanbul in 2016 and 2018, was scheduled for October.

African countries have taken timely action against Covid-19. I hope that this will continue and that the disease will be eradicated from the continent.

Turkey is among the countries that have reached the first stage of the pandemic and the new cases are below the treatment capacity.

Turkey will increase its assistance capacity, having provided equipment assistance to certain countries since the first months of the epidemic.

The direct consequence of the global economic downturn due to protective measures is the fall in production and income in each country.

A secondary result is the fall in the prices of basic products such as minerals and petroleum used in industrial production and transport.

This affects countries that depend on the sale of these products for their export earnings. These problems require the international community to work together to find solutions.

The post-Covid-19 world should be one that requires more, not less, international cooperation than before. Turkey is ready to play its role.

Unfortunately, the image that has emerged internationally over the past few weeks is one where competition, not cooperation, takes over and a perspective that views the world as a zero-sum game prevails.

However, history has shown the harmful effects of these brutal rivalries and these cold wars.

I believe that a united Africa will also overcome this challenge and that it will contribute not only to the well-being of its peoples, but also to the new world order.

Our partnership will be an example in the post-pandemic world, where solidarity will be crucial. This is why the spirit of May 25, 1963 is essential for all of us.

I warmly congratulate all Africans for this year’s celebration of Africa Day.

Mr. Miroglu is Ambassador of Turkey to Kenya.