All Africans hail President’s trip to Somalia: Turkish ambassador

Turkey’s ambassador to Chad, Ahmed Kavas, said that not only Somalian people but also all Africans are considerably pleased with President Erdoğan’s recent trip to Somalia.

“You should either live in Africa or attend his trips to appreciate the certain value of the President’s tour in the region. President Erdoğan dared to visit Djibouti, where even the regional leaders avoided stepping in for security reason,” said Kavas, in an interview with the daily Yenişafak.

“The President has drawn all regional attention with his tour, especially while in Somalia. Turkey is now seen as one of the leading players in the continent, like China, France and the United States,” he said.

“But what has distinguished Turkey from the other three actors is its main focus in the continent which is to reconstruct a country in which a risk of dividing into camps has been posed.”

The ambassador said Ankara’s policies over Africa were too ‘timid’ when compared with its today’s political motivation, fed by its descendants’ focus on the continent.

“Turkey is very active in 39 out of 54 African countries. Its diplomacy has achieved appealing to 95 percent of the whole population living in the continent and 98 percent of its total land," he said.

Kavas also pointed at increasing opportunities for Turkish businessmen who seek further cooperation with local business players. “Today, our investors have boosted the business relations with their counterparts as much as our businessmen who seemed to search for more profitable cooperation,” he said, adding that Turkey has achieved making billions of investments over the recent decade despite being limited.