'Foreign intervention' a reason behind military coups in Africa: Fidan

ANKARA

There are two main reasons behind military coup d’états in Africa, and one of them is the foreign intervention by imperialistic powers, a top Turkish diplomat has said, explaining that Türkiye will continue to implement its indigenous Africa opening based on cooperation and mutual interest.

“The chain of military coups in Africa causes scenes that we don’t want to see in the recent years. There are two main reasons for it,” Fidan said at a press conference with visiting Algerian Foreign Minister Ahmed Attaf on Sept. 7 in Ankara.

Fidan said the crises stemming from the failures of those African countries in terms of becoming a state following gaining independence is one of the reasons. “The second reason is foreign intervention and the policies and some methods a number of imperialistic powers are pursuing in Africa,” Fidan said without further detailing it.

“I want to detail them but, as you know, there are so many analyses written on them,” he added. Differently from these imperial powers, Türkiye’s Africa policy is based on cooperation and mutual interest and this is very much appreciated by the countries of the continent, Fidan stressed.

“They appreciate that we have no imperialistic agenda,” he suggested.

For his part, on a question on the recent military coup in Niger, Attaf reiterated that his country is against military solution to the problem. “We have seen the pain and tears in Libya after the foreign intervention. Those who had intervened have now left Libya. But we are now suffering,” he said.

On the bilateral front, Turkish and Algerian foreign ministers discussed ties and the content of the upcoming strategic cooperation council meeting at the presidential level.

“Our main objective was to prepare the content and the decisions that will be taken at the second Strategic High-Level Cooperation Council to be held under the leadership of the two countries’ president,” Fidan said. The strategic council is expected to be held in the coming months in Algeria.