Turkey has expanded its relations with most countries in the region such as Niger, Chad, Mali, Burkina Faso and Mauritania in light of the chronic crises experienced by those countries, such as the spread of terrorism and the prevalence of poverty, famine, and ethnic and tribal conflicts.
These problems were used by Ankara as a gateway to enhance its presence in Africa through delivering aid, setting up transport links and offering its expertise in construction.
During the last four years, Turkish officials have intensified their visits to most countries of the Sahel and West Africa. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan embarked on a five-day tour of west Africa in a bid to ramp up Turkey’s growing influence throughout the continent.
The Turkish moves aim essentially at reshaping the regional axes and the international balance of power in the region, which reveals part of the Turkish goals in the African Sahel and Sahara region.
Over time, Turkish influence came to operate through support for mosque construction, charitable projects, individual preachers, religious schools and Islamic centers dedicated to the propagation of Muslim Brotherhood ideology.
Such Turkish influence overwhelmed the Mauritanian religious sphere. This was why dozens of Mauritanian citizens staged a protest recently against Turkish interference in Mauritanian affairs outside the Turkish embassy in Mauritanian capital Nouakchott.
Turkey’s policy has become more militarized since 2015 in order to expand its geopolitical influence in the region and the continent.
This was evident in the security cooperation agreements concluded by Ankara with most countries in the region, such as Mauritania with the aim of finding a public foothold in the Sahel and Sahara region.
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