Category: Central Africa

Old Ottoman Friend, New “Voice of Africa”?

Several events marked 2008 as a milestone year for relations between Turkey and Africa.

At a January 2008 Summit, the African Union upgraded Turkey to “strategic partner” of Africa. In May, high-level representatives from 45 African countries attended the Turkey-Africa Foreign Trade Bridge, where Foreign Trade Minister Kursad Tuzmen told reporters: “Our goal is to bring the total volume of trade to approximately $20 billion this year. Our target for 2012 is $50 billion.” In August, Turkey hosted the first Africa-Turkey Cooperation Summit at Istanbul, cozying up to the African Union and declaring a number of common geopolitical interests. Abdellah Gul became the first Turkish president to pay an official visit to the sub-Saharan countries of Tanzania and Kenya in January of 2009. Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan promised to open 15 new embassies on the continent in the next few years.

What are the reasons for this sudden flurry of Turkish courtship? With crisis-hit imports and exports falling fast, Turkey has clear economic incentives for strengthening economic ties with a promising alternative export market like Africa. But there is also a new political alliance brewing, one that Turkey and Africa are hoping will be mutually beneficial, a possible model of south-south diplomacy based on trust and reciprocity.

In 2008, even as Turkish businesses were seeking out opportunities in Africa, Turkish politicians were energetically campaigning to win African support for Turkey to become a two-year member of the United Nations Security Council. President Abdellah Gul repeatedly promised African leaders and audiences that Turkey would be the “voice of Africa” at the Security Council, paying special attention to African issues. Many Africans feel that Africa is underrepresented in international bodies like the UNSC and the AU jumped on board for Turkey’s candidacy. Thanks in part to the overwhelming support of the African Union, Turkey triumphed, joining the 15-member bloc last January for the 2009-2010 period.

The first opportunity for Turkey to stand up for Africa has now arrived, with the International Criminal Court’s issuing of an arrest warrant for Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir (an unprecedented ICC indictment of a sitting head of state).

The African Union opposes indicting Bashir, as does the Organization of Islamic Countries, of which Turkey is also a member. The head of the AU Peace and Security Council said in January that the indictment process should be delayed for a year while officials negotiate peace in western Sudan. “There is a solidarity shown toward the president of Sudan, unanimously,” said Ramtane Lamamra of Algeria. AU official Jean Ping warned that the arrest warrant for Bashir could threaten the ailing peace process in Sudan.

Undeterred, the ICC issued the arrest warrant on March 4 against Bashir on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity. However, actual implementation of the arrest warrant is unenforceable so long as Bashir confines himself to friendly countries. The United Nations Security Council could also delay implementation with a vote. So far six of the fifteen UNSC members have declared they will vote in favor of suspending the warrant against Bashir, while seven members declared they are voting against suspension. Turkey and Japan are the only two undecided voices, and their votes could determine whether the warrant is suspended or not.

So why hasn’t Turkey, the new “voice of Africa”, declared its intention to block the warrant against Al Bachir, by voting for a suspension? The AKP government already has ties to the Sudanese president, having hosted him twice last year in spite of protests from liberal intellectuals, and high-level officials have expressed concern that the arrest of Bachir would have a destabilizing effect on war-torn Sudan.

On the other hand, Washington deployed top-level diplomatic channels to ask for a Turkish vote against the suspension no fewer than three times in three months, according to Hurriyet. In America, the crisis in Darfur is seen as one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises, and the arrest of Al Bashir is perceived as a promising step forward. Turkish-American relations are currently reaching an all-time high. With American President Barack Obama choosing Istanbul for the site of his highly symbolic first speech in a Muslim city, as well as sponsoring Turkish membership in the EU, Turkey might have a hard time saying no to the new leadership in Washington.

Source: www.lesafriques.com, 16 April 2009

April 17, 2009
Good News From Mozambique

The balance and imbalance experiences that affected the world in the last century, seems to maintain its effect in the future as it is doing at the moment. The impressions and the observations we obtained reveal that after a time, the impressions carried on in the “Black Continent” had exploded and the native people wanted to present a way out and to do something about this.

Mozambique is a mistreated country which had his share of the colonialism like the other African countries. We know that Portugal is also active in that geography of which Europe profit every inch. Portugal kept his effect up for a long time until the Mozambicans drove them away from this region 30 years ago.

In the county governed with capitalist economic system, all the balances that would be useful for Portugal were ready. But all the development plans disappeared when the native people drove them away. The communist system which tried hard to rule the country after the capitalism managed to continue ruling even by force. Occident who didn’t have his profits lost, caused to the civil war in the country. The conflicts between the government and the people came to an end with efforts of Anglican Church to bring together the representatives of the people and the governments. The country obtained nothing more than harm at the end of the civil war. At the end of that agreement the campaign, “collecting weapons from people”, was started and until that time 600.000 weapons has been able to collected. When we look at the weapons collected it surprises us that they come from Russia, England, and USA. Shortly, it can be called a civil war supported outwardly. A tableau of the people who doesn’t know for what they fight and who obtained the greatest harm.

The development of the country becomes slowly. Having harm more than a profit of the communism is also a factor to this. This system wasn’t accepted in this area because of the fact that the people have a mentality that consists of a leader and forming group. And the government is being effected by the collapse lived in 1991. After that the commerce of the country has been brought to a moderate atmosphere. One of the biggest postwar problems of Mozambique in which a person working in an average job earns 40 $, is the sweeping of the mines in the north region. Mine Research Commission states that the mine maps belonging to that time are lost and extensive mine researches are stopped because the attention of worldly public opinion is attracted to Iraq and Afghanistan. Henceforth, there, the mortal weapons are used to make a work of art. Messages on the useless of these weapons are being given to the people. The authorities, who say that even for the children imitation weapons shouldn’t be bought, state that people can go forward if they take their lesson from the history. Today, even in British Museum the work of art called “the Life Tree” that the people made from the weapons takes part. In the country in which ideological fixed ideas will disappear in time, in some of the streets the names of the ex-communist-leaders take part. But people’s longing to democracy and endeavoring for realizing this makes us happy.

Fishing has the greatest part for people’s making their life. In Mozambique which is a port country, a small Turkish educator group takes part. We don’t have any economical activity there yet. We want to keep our expansionist policy up there too and we thank to Sezai Kara and the other Turks who represent us there after Ottoman. The main after all is the conflict between people and systems has continued during centuries. The thing that changes the movement of happenings: exterior forces, methods that the people applied, geographical features and events lived. Today Africa is changing and becoming conscious. It is enough that it is set free. External effects having lasted too many years wore them out but they believe that they will have the required strength for rising. It is enough at least. These people lived under slavery for centuries but the ones who have lived under slavery for too many years, haven’t wanted to rise and who misses the times under slavery astonish us.

These are the situations rooting from unconsciousness. The ones who have gained the consciousness are being assimilated to the other ways. The only thing to do is to remind the past and to supply national consciousness. To state that the dialogue is more important than the conflict.

Mehmet Fatih ÖZTARSU

March 22, 2009
2009 ANNUAL DUES, DONATIONS and Book Sales

2009 MEMBERSHIP DUES AND YOUR DONATIONS ARE NEEDED TO CONTINUE OUR POSTED PROGRAMS WITH OUT INTERUPTION

THE FOLLOWING LINKS WILL TAKE YOU TO THE DUES AND DONATIONS PAGE

ÜYE AİDATLARI, BAĞIŞLAR VE KİTAP SATIŞLARI

Dear Friends,

The Turkish Forum (TF) is the GLOBAL organization with branches and working groups COVERING 5 CONTINENTS, working with many regional Organizations in the America, Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia and Turkey. TF’s mission is to represent the Turkish Community in in the best way possible, to empower the people of Turkish origin and friends of Turkey to be active and assertive in the political and civic arenas, to educate the political establishments, media and the public on issues important to Turks, and cultivate the relations between the working groups located an five continents, serving the Turkish Communities needs.

In order to achieve these goals we have performed many activities and completed many projects, THEY ARE ALL LISTED IN THE WEB PAGES OF TF, . You have been informed about these activities and projects, many of you participated voluntarily and contributed heavily and still contributing to these activates and projects. As the events happen and the major steps taken the information always reaches to you by the TF Grassroots DAILY NEWS Distribution Service. Needless to say, each activity and project requires a large amount of human and financial resources. TF has a completely volunteer board, none of the board members receives any compensation or salary or even a small reimbursement. TF also has many volunteer committee members, WELL ESTABLISHED ADVISORY BOARD and project leaders. In addition to our large volunteer pool, please see them an https://www.turkishnews.com/tr/content/turkish-forum/ TF sustains Permanent Offices in New England, Germany and in Turkey and has a number of professional staff to upgrade its systems, and to solve the technical problems. Please check our website at https://www.turkishnews.com/tr/content/turkish-forum/

As the 2009 did begin we kindly ask you to support TF by becoming a member, if you are not already one. You can also contribute a donation if you wish to upgrade your regular membership to a higher level. Your financial support is critical to TF in order to pursue its mission in a professional manner. Needless to say, it is the financial support that we receive from our members and Friends of Turkey is the backbone of our organization. As long as this support is continuous we can achieve our objectives and work for the communities across the globe. Your contribution is tax-exempt under the full extent of the law allowed under Internal Revenue Code 501(c) (3).

Becoming a member and making an additional contribution are easy: You may become a member online at http://www.turkishnews.com/dagitim/lists/?p=subscribe&id=3

I thank you for your belief in TF, and look forward to another successful year with your uninterrupted support.

Sincerely,
Kayaalp Büyükataman

Dr. Kayaalp Büyükataman, President CEO
Turkish Forum- World Turkish Coalition

March 14, 2009
France’s white knight tarnished

Lizzy Davies in Paris
February 6, 2009

ACCUSED of using his power to secure lucrative contracts with African dictators, France’s most popular politician and charismatic humanitarian activist has been forced to defend his reputation as a moral crusader.

Bernard Kouchner, the foreign minister, is portrayed as a money-loving hypocrite whose business dealings between 2002 and 2007, while out of ministerial office, tarnish his reputation for ethical practice.

The thrust of the allegations made in a new book, The World According To K by the investigative journalist Pierre Pean, is that Mr Kouchner profited from an uncomfortable combination of public and private sector work, billing huge sums to the regimes of Gabon and Congo.

Capitalising on his political clout as the government-appointed head of a public health body operating in Africa, Mr Kouchner also worked as a policy consultant for two French firms that charged €4.6 million for his reports into national health insurance schemes.

Pean does not describe the activities as illegal but claims there was a clear conflict of interests. “[There is] a distortion between the general way in which he behaves and the image that the French people have of him,” he said. “That image is of a knight in shining armour fighting for morality …”

Mr Kouchner, the founder of Medecins Sans Frontieres and a prized recruit of President Nicolas Sarkozy, has rejected the book as a “grotesque and sickening” attack motivated by jealousy from those who resent his success, and revenge from former Socialist allies who view him as a traitor.

In the weekly Nouvel Observateur, he denied having had direct financial dealings with President Omar Bongo of Gabon or President Sassou Nguesso of the Republic of Congo. Defending his right to work in the private sector, he insisted it stopped as soon as he took up his new job.

Despite his characteristically vigorous denials, the allegations threaten his “whiter than white” reputation.

Some opposition politicians urged him to set out his defence publicly. “It seems to me problematic that a minister has received money from African heads of state with debatable human rights records,” said a Socialist deputy, Arnaud Montebourg. Bernard-Henri Levy, the philosopher, criticised the “little men” who attacked Mr Kouchner.

Source: The Sydney Morning Herald, February 6, 2009

February 8, 2009