Türkiye aims to broaden its ties with Africa at key summit

ANKARA

Türkiye will reiterate its commitment to further enhancing its ties with Africa in a more institutional manner at a key summit slated for Djibouti, where its top diplomat will meet with colleagues from 14 African nations.

The third ministerial review conference between Türkiye and the African Union will take place on Nov. 2 and 3, diplomatic sources said. The summit will bring Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan together with the top diplomats of Egypt, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Nigeria, Equatorial Guinea, Libya, Djibouti, Chad, South Sudan, Comoros, Ghana, Angola and Mauritania.

Türkiye has been among nine strategic partners of the African Union since 2008 and pays utmost importance to developing and diversifying its ties with the continent. Through regular summits at the leaders’ level and ministerial level, the two sides plan and execute action plans for moving the ties forward.

According to sources, Fidan will emphasize that ties with Africa are one of the main pillars of Turkish foreign policy, underscoring that Türkiye-Africa relations are developing on the basis of mutual respect and interest and in a systematic and institutional manner.

The minister will underline that Türkiye is focusing on the economic and social development of the continent in line with the priorities and needs set by the African countries themselves.

He will also reaffirm that Türkiye will continue to contribute to Africa’s peace and stability, the sources stressed, also adding that Türkiye continues to support Africa’s efforts to be louder and more visible in the global politics and international forums, including the United Nations.

At the summit, the participants will review the implementation of the decisions taken at the 2021 Türkiye-Africa Partnership Summit in the fields of peace, security, governance, trade, investments, industry, education, women and children development, infrastructure, agriculture and health. The ministers will review the implementation of the projects in the mentioned domains.

They will also release a joint communiqué and joint implementation report. The communiqué is expected to outline ways to further enhance ties between the two sides and raise regional and international developments impacting the Türkiye-Africa relationship.

On the sidelines of the summit, Fidan is expected to hold bilateral meetings with some of the participants.