Erdogan in East Africa: One eye on oil and the other on the Red Sea

During the reign of the ruling Justice and Development Party
(AKP) headed by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey has witnessed colonial
expansionist dreams, engagement in guerrilla wars abroad, internal
administrative and economic corruption, and other factors that have caused the
country to groan under the weight of a severe economic crisis, which has prompted
the Turkish dictator to search for oil anywhere, whatever the price, in order
to make up for his losses.
Africa under Erdogan
In December 2019, Turkish Minister of Trade Ruhsar Pekcan
laid out the features of the Turkish plan in dealing with Africa, saying that
Ankara must play a proactive role in Africa, which is a target market for
Turkey, as the continent’s countries possess enormous potential. She added that
the year 2020 should be the year of Africa for the Turkish state.
Africa has always been famous for its fertility, not only at
the level of agricultural land, but also in minerals, petroleum and various
other resources, which had led the European countries to colonize the continent
in order to obtain these goods, until the national liberation campaigns started.
In the twentieth century, Erdogan brought back the form of
colonial power again, aimed at controlling the continent’s gas and oil in order
to obtain the necessary funds to enable him to quickly improve his country's
economy and preserve his regime.
The Turkish government planned to explore for gas and oil in
Somalia, Ethiopia and Kenya. The first step came when Erdogan signed a
memorandum of understanding with Kenya during his official visit in late 2019,
which was approved by the Turkish Foreign Affairs Committee in parliament in
January 2020.
Turkey also signed similar agreements in 2019 with Somalia
and Ethiopia, laying the necessary legal foundations for intervention in East
Africa.
The Swedish website Nordic Monitor published the details of
the memorandum of understanding that was signed between Turkey and Kenya in
2019, the first article of which indicates that cooperation between the two
parties in the field of energy and hydrocarbons will be strengthened on the
basis of mutual understanding.
According to Article III of the agreement, each country must
provide the expertise that each party has to implement these joint projects and
promote the discovery and exploitation of oil and gas, in addition to the
possibility of the Turkish state storing, marketing, transporting and
distributing oil derivatives, as well as building and maintaining
infrastructure for oil, gas and technology. The agreement also enables the
Turkish state to build, manage and transfer electricity from these countries.
It is clear that the agreement granted Turkey exclusive
rights and unparalleled privileges, and therefore it can be said that it has
made it a country within the state, able to manage and operate the goods of
African countries and obtain funds for that.
It must be noted that oil is not Erdogan’s only goal for
being in East Africa, but he also wants to take advantage of its distinguished
geographical location, which gives it a distinct political, logistical and
military position at the entrance to the Red Sea, which would enable him to
take control of the region and make him able to threaten navigation in the Red
Sea.