Turkey's foreign minister will travel to Djibouti next week to attend a Turkey-Africa ministerial meeting and discuss improving cooperation between Ankara and the continent, officials from his ministry said.
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan © Mena Today
Turkey's foreign minister will travel to Djibouti next week to attend a Turkey-Africa ministerial meeting and discuss improving cooperation between Ankara and the continent, officials from his ministry said.
NATO member Turkey has ramped up its presence and influence in Africa in recent years, increasing trade nearly eight-fold, giving diplomatic and military support to some countries, and inking deals in various fields.
The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the Djibouti meeting would evaluate a previous conference held in 2021 and discuss possible moves to deepen cooperation.
The meeting will be held on Nov. 2-3 and will be attended by representatives from 14 African countries, along with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, the officials added.
It comes amid Turkish mediation efforts to resolve a dispute between Somalia and Ethiopia over a deal that Ethiopia agreed to lease a stretch of coastline from Somaliland, and at a time when West Africa struggles with surging terrorism.
The officials said the mediation was difficult due to the lack of trust between the parties, but that Ankara hoped for good news in coming days.
On Tuesday, Turkey inked a cooperation agreement with Niger on mining, after having signed a similar cooperation deal with the West African nation on oil and gas in July.
Asked about the accord, the officials said Turkey's Mineral Research and Exploration authority had three gold mining fields in Niger, protected by Niger security forces, and planned to start production there by the end of the year.
Turkey is competing with major powers like France, Russia and China for a foothold in Africa, forging partnerships with several nations and providing armed drones to Somalia, Ethiopia and others.
The officials said Turkey's provision of defence equipment and military training aimed to strengthen "national capabilities" and support counterterrorism.
"Countries that have acquired Turkish drones have increased their ground control in their countries," said an official, citing Burkina Faso's doubling the level of its control over the state to 65% using Turkish drones.
On Tuesday, Tuareg rebels in Mali said a drone strike using a Turkish drone had killed eight people and wounded 20 others.
Reporting by Tuvan Gumrukcu
The United States and Iran have agreed to a two-week ceasefire, reaching a deal less than two hours before President Donald Trump's deadline for Tehran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz or face the wiping out of "a whole civilization".
Israel supports U.S. President Donald Trump's decision to suspend strikes against Iran for two weeks, but the ceasefire does not include Lebanon, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said on Wednesday.
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that he had agreed to a two-week ceasefire with Iran, less than two hours before his deadline for Tehran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz or face widespread attacks on its civilian infrastructure.
To make this website run properly and to improve your experience, we use cookies. For more detailed information, please check our Cookie Policy.
Necessary cookies enable core functionality. The website cannot function properly without these cookies, and can only be disabled by changing your browser preferences.