The Journal of Modern African Studies

Table of Contents - 2010 - Volume 48, Issue 04  

Research Article

Turkey's opening to Africa*

Mehmet Özkana1 and Birol Akgüna2

a1 Sevilla University, Spain Email: metkan82@hotmail.com

a2 Department of International Relations, Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, Selcuk University, Campus, Konya, 42176, Turkey Email: bakgun@selcuk.edu.tr

ABSTRACT

As part of on-going multidimensional foreign policy changes in recent years, there has been since 1998 a revival in Turkey's relations with Africa. Initially rather passive, after 2005 this became a massive effort to develop relations with the whole continent. However, Turkey's Africa policy is unique in Turkish foreign policy, since for the first time it is driven and complemented by the activities of civil society organisations in and about Africa. Conceptualisation of Africa in Turkish society has changed dramatically in less than a decade, and the recent Turkey–Africa Cooperation Summit should be seen as part of this trend. Turkey's opening to Africa is not a short-term inclination, but is likely to develop and deepen in coming years.

Footnotes

* The authors would like to thank Muzaffer Şenel and two anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments for improving this paper. This study is partially supported by Selcuk University, Scientific Research Fund.