Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan addressed the 3rd Türkiye-Africa Partnership Ministerial Review Conference in the West African country of Djibouti on Sunday, the second day of his visit to the country, where he met counterparts from several African countries.
Fidan said Ankara was committed to deepening relations with Africa, which he called on to back diplomatic support for Palestinians.
Türkiye has invested heavily across Africa in recent years, with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan carrying out 50 visits to 31 countries during his two decades in power. Fourteen African countries attended the latest ministerial meeting in the tiny Horn of Africa nation of Djibouti this weekend. They included Angola, Chad, Comoros, the Republic of Congo, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Ghana, Libya, Mauritania, Nigeria, South Sudan, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
Fidan, who presided over the meeting, said trade with the continent surpassed $35 billion (TL 1.2 trillion) last year and Türkiye direct investments now totaled $7 billion. “Türkiye is employing a comprehensive and holistic approach in terms of enhancing our trade and economic partnership with the continent,” Fidan said in his speech.
In recent months, Türkiye has attempted to mediate a feud between Ethiopia and Somalia and struck a mining deal with Niger.
The minister, who extended greetings of Erdoğan to the participants, said they witnessed that Africa was preparing to take a greater role in the 21st century with its young and dynamic population, resources and growing markets. He said Africa was also facing global challenges such as terrorism, inequality, the impact of climate change and irregular migration. “None of those are bigger than Africa’s accomplishments,” he added, noting that Türkiye was engaged in close partnership with the African countries starting from the early 2000s, based on the principle that African solutions were necessary to resolve Africa’s problems. Türkiye advocates decreasing the influence of European countries that exploited the resources of Africa in past centuries.
The top diplomat noted that Türkiye has been a strategic partner of the African Union since 2008. “We developed our relations with all African countries in a bilateral way, in a structured approach based on needs. We improved our multilateral relations within the African Union. We attach importance to Africa’s stability and take its security concerns seriously,” he said.
Fidan reiterated that Sudan was now heading into its second year of a conflict, which has had a devastating impact on the country. “We should not let Sudan be an obscure matter for the international community and should act together for an immediate cease-fire and lasting solution,” he said.
Fidan stated that Türkiye has always supported counterterrorism and local and regional initiatives to bolster stability, build capacity and spread security across the continent.
The minister reiterated support for the African Union to become a permanent member of the G-20 and for reform of the United Nations Security Council. “We should continue our efforts to make the U.N. more relevant and capable of confronting the complex challenges of the century. Security Council reform is critical in this sense,” he said.
“South Africa’s 2025 term presidency in G-20 is a great opportunity for the continent to voice their priorities in the global agenda,” he said.
“Türkiye strongly supports Africa for reaching its deserved place in the international system, for its voice to be heard,” he said, adding that the international system in its current form cannot efficiently respond to inequality and injustice.
Under the leadership of President Erdoğan, Türkiye has long defended major reforms in the U.N., especially the U.N. Security Council under its informal campaign with the motto of “The world is bigger than five,” in reference to members of the council.
“Peace, stability and justice are elusive for a large part of the world. The international system could not stop the ongoing humanitarian catastrophe in the Middle East. Israel is still committing the crime of genocide against the people of Palestine. This limitless attack threatens regional stability and international order in a broader sense. Israel should be subject to enforcement measures.
Türkiye, in this context, launched an initiative for an arms embargo on Israel,” he said.
He called for greater African involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. “We believe that Africa can play an instrumental role in supporting the Palestinian cause and in stopping Israel,” he said. “We appreciate the African countries that stand with Palestine,” he added, highlighting South Africa’s recent move to file evidence of “genocide” committed by Israel to the International Criminal Court.
The next Türkiye-Africa Summit is due to be held in 2026. Fidan said they were in close cooperation with relevant institutions to realize a joint action plan approved in the third summit held in 2021.
