After 15 years of the cooperation treaty... Where are the relations between Algeria and Turkey heading?

Algeria - With

completely identical visions on all regional and international issues, Turkish investments in Algeria have so far reached $5 billion, in addition to 1,300 Turkish companies operating there. 15 years after the signing of the cooperation treaty, the relations of the two countries are heading towards greater rapprochement at the political levels. and economic, in a sensitive context for both sides, and in light of common challenges.

This was one of what Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu was keen to emphasize during his visit to Algeria earlier this week, noting the important role it plays for the interests of the region.

Cavusoglu revealed that the first meeting of the High-Level Cooperation Council, which was established during President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's visit to Algeria in January of last year, will soon be held, noting that it will culminate in the signing of many agreements.

Cavusoglu revealed that the first meeting of the High-level Cooperation Council between Ankara and Algeria will take place soon (Anatolia)

Support Libya and Tunisia

In his reading of the timing of Cavusoglu's new visit to Algeria and its political agenda, Idriss Rabouh, head of the International Algerian Association, stressed that it comes in the context of the elections in Libya and the attempts of retired Major General Khalifa Haftar and his supporters to strike the agreed political solution out of the crisis.

He also linked it - in a statement to Al Jazeera Net - to the Turkish-Algerian consensus to support the stability of the elected institutions in Tunisia, in exchange for their rejection of any external interference, but rather "the necessity of cooperation between them against the will of the coup that the UAE and its Arab allies supported to strike the Tunisian democratic experience."

Rabouh explained that the visit is also closely related to Israel's entry into the African region, and it is a competitor to Turkey in the Middle East, which rejects its presence.

Relationships in their best days

As for evaluating the course of cooperation between the two countries since 2006, Rabouh pointed to a steady development in the volume of trade exchanges, while Algerian investments in Turkey are concentrated in the field of energy, which is a very vital sector for Turks, not to mention Ankara's investment of $5 billion in Algeria without political demands.

This is what Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune expressed to the French magazine "Le Point" in a statement that has great political implications, especially that Paris is disturbed by the Turkish presence in Algeria and Africa, especially its north, close to its borders, he said.

Cultural and scientific relations are also witnessing great progress, as the two countries announced the opening of an Algerian cultural center in Turkey and another Turkish center in Algeria, in addition to the inauguration of Turkish education centers in Algerian universities, student exchanges between the two sides, and cooperation in the field of archives, especially during the Ottoman Empire.

With regard to political relations, Rabouh considered it in its brightest days between the two republics, with the advent of the Justice and Development Party, which was keen on Turkey's return to its Arab, Islamic, African and Asian depth.

Relations have known close cooperation in the military and security aspects, as they tend to more coordination, especially since Turkey entered the Russian arms club by acquiring the "S-400" system to find itself with Algeria, which opens the way for more cooperation to benefit from the Algerian experience, as he put it.

Zadok expects to consolidate Algerian-Turkish relations to the level of making a strategic alliance (Al Jazeera Net)

France and Israel

As for the future of joint relations, the head of the parliamentary group for Algerian-Turkish friendship, Ahmed Sadok, stressed the need for Algeria to go to the countries of the East and deepen partnership with them, according to the win-win theory, without historical backgrounds or exploitation, as is the case with the Western camp, especially France.

Zadok confirmed - in a statement to Al Jazeera Net - that economic relations between Algeria and Turkey will witness greater progress after a temporary decline of the French lobby in Algeria since the movement of February 22, 2019, considering that France represents the undeclared "common enemy" in the region for historical reasons.

For his part, Rabouh expects that the Algerian-Turkish relations will witness more cooperation in Libya to achieve political stability through the elections gate at the end of the year, which will enhance reconciliation efforts and support the Libyan sovereign institutions in extending their influence over the entire territory, so that foreign forces can then leave, and thus consecrate the two roles Turkish and Algerian in Libya and the return of companies of the two countries.

He also said, "Every Turkish investment in Algeria in the fields of industry, agriculture, services and others will be an investment in all of Africa, especially as it is a close neighbor of the largest African regional group (the Economic Community of West African States "ECOWAS") and of the economic giant Nigeria, which has the largest population density on the continent, and an ally of Algeria. of the African Union".

Moreover, the Israeli penetration into Africa in the face of Algeria and its regional role will deepen its relations with Turkey, as it is not in its interest for any new player to come into these arenas.

It is also believed that the North Cyprus file will be nominated for deliberation between the two sides, after relations reached the stage of diplomatic maturity.

Zadok returned to say that Turkey has now become one of the rising economic powers, as it has been able to possess advanced technology, and Algeria needs a technological transition, and the establishment of small and medium enterprises, which makes it an opportunity for the two countries, through the embodiment of agreements in this direction.

All these files and others, which would - according to the head of the parliamentary group for Algerian-Turkish friendship - strengthen relations between the two countries to the level of making a strategic alliance, in the long run, that evokes a long history of joint tournaments in the Mediterranean.