Turkey’s Expansion In Eastern Africa: The Case Of Somalia

The paper analyzes Turkish involvement in Eastern Africa by the case of Turkey-Somalia relations. The article represents how Turkey successfully went from providing humanitarian aid to taking control over the important infrastructures and locating own military base in Somalia. The research shows that the Turkish involvement in Somalia is mainly benefiting Turkey rather than Somalia, which does not possess enough resources to speak on equal terms with Turkey. The conclusions drawn from the research are the following: 1) Africa’s role as a political theatre is gradually increasing, as more and more players are getting involved, 2) Turkey is getting actively engaged in Africa on its way to becoming a regional power, 3) The case of Turkish involvement in Somalia represents a “Turkish model” that can be offered to struggling states of Africa, i.e. large economic and political involvement in exchange for communication and military infrastructure 4) Somalia’s case can become a motivation for other unstable countries in the region in search for a patron state.