Important changes to how Turkey is perceived in Africa have been experienced in recent years. Until 15 years ago, Turkey had an ambiguous meaning in Africa. When Turkey was mentioned to the people of Africa, the image in their mind was the same as any other country. Turkey was the same to them as Laos or Uruguay. Only North African nations recognized Turkey.
When I visited Egypt years ago, I had the opportunity to meet with some intellectuals. For Egyptian intellectuals, Turkey was, in general, a government with a colonial past that did nothing for Egypt. In those days, when Egypt’s overthrown president took to the screens, he would constantly make comparisons between Turkey and Egypt. He delivered speeches full of praise for the Egyptian economy, and stated that Turkish currency was worthless.
There were similar thoughts in the apartheid era in South Africa. Even though the Turks living in South Africa faced discrimination, Turkey did not have a positive image for the black people and mixed racial people living in Turkey because the administration of the time implemented policies that were in line with the white minority.
Turkey wants to train Kenyan police officers in fighting crime, including terrorism, the local head of Turkey’s state-run aid agency told Anadolu Agency on Wednesday.A high-level delegation from Turkey met with top officials from the Kenya National Police Service to discuss the particulars of the training. The Turkish group included Alper Ozdemir, first-class police chief at Police Vocational School, and Erkin Tanrikulu, a second-class security director and vice-president security general.Emre Yuksek, the coordinator in Kenya of the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA), told Anadolu Agency: “With TIKA collaboration, the Turkish General Director of Security Services has rolled out international police training programs across the world, and we also want to extend the coverage to Kenya’s National Police.”In the presence of Turkey’s ambassador to Kenya, both sides agreed to work together, especially on specialized Turkish courses on criminal investigation, crisis management, anti-terrorism, organized crime, car theft, and other many different areas.The Turkish delegation will be in Kenya for four days visiting various police divisions to see where improvements are needed.According to a TIKA statement, the training offered across the world includes courses in basic intelligence, pedestrian and mobile tracking, counter-terrorism, organized crime, shooting techniques and tactics, car theft, guarding VIPs, police training, police defense tactics, intelligence in combating global terrorism, crisis/hostage negotiation, protecting important premises against terrorism, and cyber crimes.Kenya’s police inspector general expressed his thanks to the people and government of Turkey for coming in to assist the East African nation at an opportune time when they are combating acts of crime such as those by the Somali-based al-Qaeda affiliated al-Shabaab militant group.
Since 2000, when Turkey became seen more actively in Africa, there have been important changes in perception. Nongovernmental organizations played the most critical role in the changing of this perception. Turkey’s Humanitarian Relief Foundation (IHH) as well as many other nongovernmental organizations carried out humanitarian aid ventures as well as various projects for orphans and cataract surgeries in the region. “Turks” were recognized in the region before “Turkey.” It became possible to see the positive perception of Turks in desolate villages of Malawi or Guinea Bissau.
Government organizations also played a significant role in changing the perception of Turkey. The Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA) deserves praise for this. There is practically no African country that has been untouched by TIKA. TIKA has a considerable weight in the majority of the development projects in Africa. It is especially meaningful that recently, a Chinese diplomat announced that there may be changes in China’s Africa policy and that Turkey, and especially TIKA, can be taken as an example. Even though TIKA does not like to be advertised too much, it needs to be more visible in Africa. This matter is related more so to the fact that foreign media is still very influential in Africa, and that TIKA’s activities are largely ignored.
It is important from the perspective of Turks living in Africa in terms of the perception of Turkey that Turkish Airlines (THY) flies to many countries, in fact all countries, even if it is expensive. The first company that comes to the mind of the people of Africa when a Turkish firm is mentioned is THY, and it is possible to see their advertisements on billboards across all African countries.
Nongovernmental organizations and government institutions have only been so effective in bringing the perception of Turkey to a more positive level. After that point, it is Turkish businessmen who will take action. The business world needs to become more visible in Africa than in other geographies. In particular, President Erdoğan’s visit to Sudan was an important momentum in this context. Hundreds of businessmen and businesswomen from Turkey visit Africa and try to evaluate what they can do there.
Although the business world to coming to Africa is a positive development for Turkey, it may lead to a negative approach. Many businessmen see Africa as a region where they can easily gain profits. However, making money in Africa is not as easy as it sounds or is said to be. Africa is not a place for businessmen to make small calculations and hit the jackpot by earning easy money. Africa is a place where you can make profits after a certain period of time.
Businessmen who will come to Africa, make investments and develop trade relations must act like a soft power first. They must not forget that they are representing Turkey. The personnel brought from Turkey must have both quality of work and humanity. Actions that will leave a negative image for Turkish businessmen should be avoided. It is easy to repair negative trends in other areas, but it is very difficult to do so in the business world.
An important visit was organized by the Turkey Economic Enterprise and Business Ethics Association (IGIAD) to Ethiopia last week. The visit made some say “If only the businessmen who came to Africa were like this.” IGIAD’s primary goal is not to solely earn money but to conquer the hearts of the Ethiopian people and contribute to Ethiopia through the “win-win” principle. Here, moral sharing and cooperation was more important than material sharing.
IGIAD showed the same sensitivity that Habesha King Necashi demonstrated when he embraced the first Muslim immigrants from Mecca. IGIAD sought to open its arms to the Ethiopian people in the same way, and wanted to contribute to employees and employers.
The perception of Turkey continues to improve in Africa. This perception is currently in favor of Turkey and depicts a strong image of the country. On the other hand, there is a negative perception operation targeting Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan being conducted especially by the Western media. For now, although these approaches are not widely received in Africa, the West may invest more in this negative perception operation.
Perception operations will always exist. Those who do not criticize the hypocritical totalitarian approach of their own leaders will criticize and blame our leaders. We should continue to enlighten people about Turkey together with all of our institutions, our businessmen and nongovernmental organizations. The road is hard and long, but we also have a “past” accretion.
By İbrahim Tığlı
