In Istanbul, Turkey's operation to seduce the African continent

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

(Illustrative image) AFP - ALEJANDRO PAGNI

Text by: Charlotte Cosset Follow

1 min

The third Africa-Turkey partnership summit opened this Friday, December 17 in Istanbul.

On the menu of discussions: to trace the axes of Turkish-African action in the years to come before the great meeting of heads of state on Saturday, December 18.

Twenty-six foreign ministers and 16 presidents and heads of government are scheduled to make the trip.

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From our special correspondent in Istanbul,

Symbol of the rise of Turkish-African cooperation: the dozens of multicolored flags displayed in the reception hall of the ministers.

Strong delegations which, underlines the Congolese Minister of Foreign Affairs, clearly shows African confidence in the “

” partner 

 .

Objective: closer relations with traditional partners such as Somalia.

Its Head of State Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed also met one-on-one with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan this Friday, December 17.

Abiy Ahmed, the Ethiopian Prime Minister, also made the trip, while he fails to curb the Tigrayan rebellion.

He needs the support of his Turkish partner, who is already very involved with him, more than ever.

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It was also an opportunity to create links with less close diplomats, such as the Central African Republic, one of the only states that does not yet host a Turkish embassy on its territory.

Turkey, with more limited means than other international partners, attracts today with its greater flexibility and its critical discourse towards the former colonies.

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• Turkey

• Somalia

• Recep Tayyip Erdogan

• Ethiopia

• Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo