Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan begins today, Sunday, an African tour that includes the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Senegal and Guinea Bissau, and Erdogan's tour will continue until next Wednesday, in light of Ankara's focus in recent years on developing its relations with African countries, as Erdogan has made many tours in the countries of the continent in the years the last few.
Erdogan is scheduled to discuss with officials in the three African countries bilateral relations in all their aspects, and opportunities to develop bilateral cooperation in all fields.
During his visit to the Senegalese capital, Dakar (tomorrow, Monday and Tuesday), Erdogan will attend, with his Senegalese counterpart Macky Sall and other heads of state, the opening ceremony of the Dakar Olympic Stadium, which can accommodate 50,000 spectators, and was built by a Turkish company.
Anadolu Agency reported that the Turkish President will hold bilateral meetings with the leaders of the countries participating in the opening ceremony, and Erdogan will inaugurate the new building of the Turkish Embassy in Dakar.
President Erdogan's visit to Guinea-Bissau (on 22 and 23 of this month) will be the first of its kind for a Turkish president.
Previous tours
President Erdogan had made an African tour in March 2018, which included Mauritania, Algeria, Mali and Senegal. Before that, he toured in March 2016 to Ivory Coast, Ghana, Nigeria and Guinea, and in 2015 the Turkish President visited Ethiopia, Djibouti, and Somalia.
Anadolu Agency indicated - in a report - that Turkish-African relations gained new momentum as of 2003, the year in which Turkish President Erdogan launched the Africa Strategic Policy, and Turkey became an observer member of the African Union in 2005, then a strategic partner in 2008.
Istanbul hosted, between December 16-18, 2021, the third summit of the Turkish-African Partnership, which held its first work in Istanbul also in 2008, and its second summit in Malabo, the capital of Equatorial Guinea, in 2014.