Turkey-Africa relations during the Cold War

This thesis addressing the Turkey-Africa relations during Cold War Period seeks to offer a historical perspective to the reader in order to comprehend Turkey's foreign policy approach towards the continent in the years between 1945 and 1989 and provide a framework to make better sense of current relations between Turkey and Africa. When Turkey's policies towards Africa are examined, it is seen that there have been ups and downs over time. It can be said that the African continent has attracted little interest in Turkish academic circles during the Cold War years, despite Turkey's close linkages to the Africa continent in terms of historical, cultural, and geographical ties. In this regard, this study analyzed the Turkey-Africa relations during the Cold War in light of archival sources. In this direction, official documents from the Presidential Directorate of State Archive were examined and it was observed that Turkey has signed more than 100 agreements with North African countries and also signed 64 agreements with Sub-Saharan African countries in terms of economic, commercial, medical, and military topics. Within this context, interviews were made with Turkish former ambassador to Abuja (Nigeria) Numan Hazar as well as an academician and Turkish ambassador to Dakar (Senegal) Prof. Dr. Ahmet Kavas who has penned important books and articles about specific topics related to the continent. At the end of our evaluations during the thesis, it was concluded that throughout the Cold War, relations between Turkey and Africa have shown a remarkable advancement. Keywords: Archive, Africa, Independence, Turkey, Foreign Policy, Turkish Foreign Policy