Turkey’s Pivot to the African Continent : Strategic Crossroads

The book provides a comprehensive and long-term assessment of Turkey’s evolving role in Africa at different levels ranging from political to economic, cultural and military ties. It engage with discussions surrounding Turkey’s strengths and weaknesses in its foreign policies targeting African countries.

Rather than taking policy discourses for granted, the chapters in this volume unpack the overall effectiveness of Turkey’s Africa strategy on the ground. Starting with an analysis of Turkey’s role conception as a centre country, the book continues with an examination of the impact of Turkey’s embassies on trade with Africa. It also provides insights into the statements, accomplishments and the effectiveness of Turkey’s summit diplomacy with the continent, exploring the intricacies of resource control in its Africa policy beyond the conventional soft-hard power binary. The book delves into its humanitarian assistance during the Covid-19 pandemic, uncovers the maritime nexus in Turkey’s African agenda, examines its arms exports to Africa and elucidates the nature of these transactions. It offers a nuanced understanding of Turkey’s growing engagement in the continent, making it an essential read for the scholars, researchers, policy makers and anyone intrigued by the dynamic interplay between Turkey and African countries. This book will be useful for students, researchers and scholars of politics and international relations broadly, and particularly relevant for anyone interested in Turkish foreign policy and politics, African politics and Eurasian geopolitics.

The chapters in this book were originally published as a special issue of the Journal of Balkan and Near Eastern Studies.