A new and strategic actor in Africa, Turkey has intensified its military cooperation as well as political, economic and cultural ties with most of the African countries. Since labelling 2005 the “Year of Africa”, Turkey has built strong relations across Africa, this vision even goes back to 1998, when Turkey’s African Initiative Policy process started, and when Turkey became an observing member of the African Union in 2005 and 2008. Turkey’s African Initiative Policy has then developed in 2013 to become Africa Partnership Policy.

Political relations has developed between Turkey and Africa in the last two decades, as during Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Erdoğan era 31 new embassies have opened and the total number of Turkish embassies in Africa has increased from 12 in 2002 to 43 in 2021, which will soon reach 44 embassies, with the opening of the Turkish embassy in Guinea-Bissau.

In addressing the Angolan parliament this year, Erdogan described Turkey as an “Afro-Eurasian state”. Additionally, Turkey has established joint Business Councils with 45 African countries and 40 Sub-Saharan African countries.

Ankara is now preparing for the third Turkey-Africa Partnership Summit, which will take place in Istanbul on 17^th and 18^th December 2021, a summit discussed by Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu and Moussa Faki Mahamat, Chairperson of the Commission of the African Union, during his visit to Ankara in September, 2021.

When it comes to trade and investment, the Turkey-Africa Economic and Business Forum has facilitated to increase the economic ties between both parties. Turkey’s trade with African countries have reached $25.3 billion by 2020 from $5.4 billion in 2003 when Erdogan came to power.

In addition to trade, investment and cultural projects in Africa, security and military cooperation have cemented the relations between Turkey and many African influential countries.

According to the Turkish president, Ankara is determined to raise the bilateral trade figure with Africa to $50 billion. The Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, stated that the volume of projects undertook by Turkish contracting companies in the African Continent has reached $71.1 billion and reached $19.5 billion in the Sub-Saharan African countries.

The military cooperation also has extended to Chad – during the visit of the transitional President Mahamat Idriss Deby to Ankara, last month, Erdogan stated that Turkey will develop cooperation with Chad in the military and security fields, beside the bilateral trade which has reached $112 million and expected to double in the near future. Chad is currently undertaking the periodical presidency of the G5 Sahel and the Community of Sahel–Saharan States.

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed signed a military and financial cooperation deal with Ankara, during his visit in August this year to Turkey. Ambassador Dina Mufti, the Ethiopia ministry of foreign affairs spokesman, told Anadolu Agency that Ethiopia, Africa’s second-most populous country, would accept if Turkey played a role in mediating in the border dispute between Sudan and Ethiopia. Turkey is also a commercial player in Ethiopia, as $2.5bn has been invested in Ethiopia out of a total of $6bn already invested by Turkish companies in sub-Saharan Africa.

In Sudan, before the current political crisis, the bilateral trade volume between Turkey and Sudan was expected to reach $2 billion, as Sudan has become the sixth largest export Turkish partner in Africa

From Sudan to Niger, a cooperation agreement has been signed between Ankara and Niamey which allowed Ankara a military presence in the country in July 2020. Turkey has signed agreements on military cooperation, sports, and youth during Cavusoglu’s visit to Niger, and during his visit to Togo, agreements were signed concerning cooperation in defense.

In North Africa, Turkey has been involved in trade and defense in the region, providing support for the UN-backed administration in Libya. In its neighbor, Algeria has become Turkey’s second largest trading partner in Africa after Egypt, with exchanges that reached $4.2 billion in 2020, and with expectations that the two countries will expand trade to $5 billion in 2021, exceeding Egypt, thanks to the agreement Turkey has signed with Algeria, the “Friendship and Cooperation Agreement with Algeria”.

In a military deal between Morocco and the Turkish manufacturer Baykar, Ribat has received the first units of Turkey’s Bayraktar TB2 unmanned combat aerial vehicles (UCAVs). Additionally, the Royal Moroccan Armed Forces (FAR) attended a training program in Turkey in July according to media reports. The Turkish military technology and products will now compete with the French market in the North African, as Morocco has been long been using the French Heron drones.

Morocco and Turkey have the potential to establish a promising political and economic cooperation, based on mutual respect and national interests. In addition to the shared cultural and religious ties, both are important geopolitical actors of the MENA region, the Mediterranean, and the Islamic world at large.

Over the past two decades, Morocco and Turkey have intensified their diplomatic relations and trade volume, sharing experience in many sectors such as migration, military cooperation, security affairs as well as the textile and construction sectors.

Turkey regards Morocco as an important partner given the dynamism of Morocco’s economy and the kingdom’s geographical location as a gateway to Africa. But there is also a competitive aspect to this relationship.

From 2011 onward, the Turkish-Moroccan relations indicate a state of reluctance to establish strong relations. Invited by the chief of the government in 2013, then Turkish prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan visited Morocco, seeking a strategic partnership, but he was not received by King Mohammed VI. Moreover, Erdoğan was boycotted by the General Confederation of Moroccan Enterprises.

While the coalition government’s leading political party, the Party for Justice and Development in Morocco, had a strong cooperation with Turkey’s JDP (Justice and Development Party or AKP), the monarchy refused to have strong relations with Turkey. However, in December 2014, King Mohammed VI and his family were received by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan at his home. It was a friendly and unofficial meeting.

In the summer of 2016, two years later, Morocco condemned the coup attempt against Turkish President Erdoğan and met the Turkish government’s demands to crack down on FETO (Fetullah Terrorist Organization) institutions in Morocco. As a response, in 2017, Morocco closed seven FETO schools and arrested many of those who are affiliated with the group.

Unbalanced Free Trade Agreements

The Turkey-Morocco free trade agreement (FTA) signed on April 7, 2004, in Ankara, and entered into force at the beginning of 2006, provides a significant impetus to bilateral cooperation.

In 2018, the trade volume between Turkey and Morocco increased to around $2.7 billion, which is a positive indicator of the agreements made earlier. Despite the gradual increase, Morocco requested a review of some clauses of the FTA after its local industries and businesses suffered a loss, and the trade balance with Turkey experienced a deficit following the entry into force of the accord in 2006.

This imbalance is due to the similarity of certain sectors in both countries, such as textiles, leather, construction, public works, and distribution networks. In parallel, the Turkish investments in the Kingdom of Morocco were not materialized as expected. The volume of Turkish investments in Morocco does not exceed 1% due to the lack of the promotion of direct Turkish investment in the country, notably through joint-venture operations. However, to increase Turkish investment, Ankara should invest in new sectors such as the pharmaceutical industry, banking services, or insurance, in addition to the establishment of joint investment platforms.

In October 2020, up to 90% additional customs taxation was imposed on Turkish products for a period of five years. These additional taxes cover a total of 1,200 different products in different categories, led by the industry, food, and textile sectors.

The changes and additional taxation were implemented after a controversial 18 months. The Moroccan government thinks that the 2004 free trade agreement with Turkey has a negative impact on Morocco’s trade deficit. For Morocco, enhancing the free trade agreement to overcome impediments for equitable sharing of benefits is critical for sustainable cooperation and is necessary for a win-win perspective.

A Strategic Partnership to What Extent?

While Morocco and Turkey’s bilateral relations are based on common interests on security, migration, development, and territorial integrity, the former Saudi-Turkish confrontation affected regional stability and led to further geopolitical polarization in the Maghreb region. The long-standing rivalry between the two important powers of North Africa, Morocco and Algeria, has always been the determining factor in the steps of international and regional powers toward the region. Maintaining economic and political relations with both countries is an important factor in Turkey’s insistence on a neutral policy toward the region’s two important countries.

One of the most sensitive and important issues is the Sahara crisis. Here, Algeria is providing both financial and political support to the Polisario militias, and Turkey’s relationship with Algeria and its lack of clarity on this issue has led to tense relations between it and Morocco.

In December 2019, the state-owned Turkish television channel TRT World aired an interview with Sahrawi separatist Aminatou Haidar. Haidar’s critical discourse towards the Moroccan state triggered a wave of criticism by Moroccan media. The broadcast was considered blackmail after a call for a readjustment of a free trade deal with Turkey by the Moroccan government.

In economic terms, the visit of Algerian Foreign Minister Sabri Bukadoum to Turkey on September 1, 2020, and his commitment to offering important opportunities to Turkish investor companies, is an indicator of the rivalry between Morocco and Algeria in the Maghreb region and the African continent.