A day after foreign ministers from the 57-nation Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) convene in Istanbul for an emergency meeting, Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan travels to Somalia itself on Thursday along with his family, where he plans to visit relief camps to draw international attention to the East African country’s plight.
Accompanying Erdogan to Somalia will be Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, who will also take his family and who later heads to South Africa and Ethiopia as part of an African tour.
Muslim Turkey, a rising political and economic power that straddles East and West, is far behind other emerging powers such as China, Brazil or India in the race for new markets in Africa.
But under Erdogan’s ruling AK Party government, Turkey has expanded commercial ties in Africa, as well as in the Middle East and Asia, and opened several new embassies in Africa.
“There is a scramble for Africa now, particularly with China, and Turkey does not want to be left behind,” said Semih Idiz, a foreign affairs analyst who writes for Turkish media.
“Turkey is flexing its muscle in Africa. It wants to show it is a rich country that can reach out to poor countries. Ramadan is a good period to show you are a good Muslim so the OIC summit and Erdogan’s visit to Somalia have also an Islamic solidarity and domestic dimension,” Idiz told Reuters,
Visits by world leaders to Somalia are extremely rare due to serious security risks. But Erdogan, a pious Muslim who fasts in Ramadan and has become a hero among Muslims for his stance on Israel, has said it is “impossible for us to be spectators to the human tragedy in Africa”.