How Erdogan turned Turkey into a key player in Africa via economy, religion, arms… – The Africa Report.com

Has Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s diplomatic activism finally paid off? Since coming to power in 2003, the Turkish president – who was the clear favourite in the run-off against Kemal Kiliçdaroglu on Sunday 28 May – has worked hard to make his country a key partner in Africa. Over the two decades of Erdogan’s reign, Turkey’s influence has grown enormously in religious, cultural, economic and, above all, military terms, as our maps show.

Humanitarian and religious diplomacy

Erdogan has made a number of gestures towards his African partners. For example in 2011, when Ankara came to the aid of famine-plagued Somalia. Humanitarian diplomacy has often been accompanied by a religious dimension.

The inauguration of the grandiose Blue Mosque in Accra in 2021 – entirely financed by Turkey – is one of its most spectacular incarnations. Apart from building religious edifices, Ankara is also financing