French media: Turkey extends its influence in Africa, its UAV’s are selling like hotcakes

Turkey continued to cement the reputation of its drones last year by helping Azerbaijan regain control of most of the territories lost to Armenian separatists nearly three decades ago.

This is one of the main objectives of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. After trade and cooperation, Turkey wants to develop the defense sector in Africa and is counting on its combat drones to strengthen its ties with the leaders of the continent, invited on December 17 and 18 in Istanbul. Two months after his Economic Forum, focused on investments and trade, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is preparing to welcome some forty senior African officials, including thirteen heads of state and two prime ministers, according to the Turkish Foreign Ministry .

This new meeting should this time focus on security issues, Turkey promoting its military equipment at a lower cost, and with flexible conditions, to African countries. Ankara already has a military base in Somalia and Morocco and Tunisia took delivery of their first Turkish combat drones in September.

“Everyone talks to me about drones”

Angola, in turn, recently expressed interest in these unmanned aircraft during Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s first official visit to the oil-producing southern African country in October. Turkey also signed a military cooperation agreement in August with Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, who is embroiled in a war against rebels in Tigray.

“The defense sector is a new asset: Turkey has pushed it a lot, especially that of drones”, remarks Federico Donelli, researcher in international relations at the University of Genoa, in Italy. Ankara “does not only offer its equipment but also training, as in Somalia,” he adds. The TB2 drone model of the private company Bayraktar, headed by one of the president’s son-in-law, is the most requested after its vaunted successes in recent years in Libya and Azerbaijan.

“Everywhere I go in Africa, everyone talks to me about drones,” said Recep Tayyip Erdogan after his tour of Angola, Nigeria and Togo this fall. But it is above all the possibility of a contract with Ethiopia that has raised questions given the brutality of the conflict in Tigray which has left thousands of civilians dead and hundreds of thousands displaced, according to the UN. According to a Western source, several devices have been delivered, but Ankara had to bow to Western pressure and cease deliveries to the Abiy Ahmed regime.

Sharp Rise

A spokesman for the Turkish Foreign Ministry evacuated questions about them, stressing that they are two “sovereign” nations and therefore empowered to seal their own agreements. Turkish official statistics do not detail sales of military equipment, showing only their monthly amounts. And these have skyrocketed over the past year. Turkey’s defense and aeronautics exports to Ethiopia reached $ 94.6 million between January and November, compared to around $ 235,000 during the same period the previous year.

Figures presented by the Assembly of Turkish Exporters show similar increases for Angola, Chad and Morocco. Turkish drones were first noticed in 2019, after Ankara signed two defense agreements with the UN-recognized Libyan government.

Tripoli then unleashed these devices on the conflict zone, slowing the advance of rebel forces from the east supported by Turkey’s regional rivals and paving the way for a gradual transition to an electoral process.

Turkey extends its hold in Africa

Turkey continued to cement the reputation of its drones last year by helping Azerbaijan regain control of most of the territories lost to Armenian separatists nearly three decades ago. “Now, with its drones, Turkey has more advantages up its sleeve when it comes to negotiating with other countries,” continues Federico Donelli.

“We understand the importance to the defense sector and our relations with Africa,” said Nail Olpak, chairman of the Council for International Economic Relations of Turkey, an influential independent organization that established the Economic Forum.

“But to limit this sector to the sale of arms, rockets, rifles or tanks would be a mistake”, he assures, citing the example of Turkish demining vehicles in Togo, which also belong to the industry of defense.

Federico Donelli confirms this: He emphasizes the modernization plan of the Togolese army carried out with the support of Turkey, which provides training and armored vehicles in addition to weapons and other equipment.

Turkey has gradually extended its hold in Africa with a network of 37 military offices on the continent, to support President Erdogan’s goal of tripling the annual trade volume of trade with the continent, to $ 75 billion in the coming years.