Why Turkey is trying to improve its profile in the Maghreb

In parallel with its military activity in Libya and rising profile in Africa in the past five years, Ankara has changed its traditional foreign policy priorities with Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia, which has resulted in almost daily coverage in the Turkish media. Aside from their importance to maintain the Turkish military presence in Libya, these three countries also bear critical significance for Ankara’s Africa opening.

For Algeria, the Friendship and Cooperation Agreement, which was signed during a visit by then-Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan in 2006, serves as a strong foundation for bilateral relations.

Besides its geopolitical location that can serve as a logistics hub for Turkey’s Africa dossier, Algeria is the fourth-largest economy of Africa with a population of some 40 million and with significant natural gas and oil reserves. It is also the fourth-largest liquefied natural gas exporter to Turkey after Russia, Iran and Azerbaijan. In the energy field, a Turkish conglomerate reached an agreement with Algeria’s Sonatrach in 2018, to establish a petrochemical site in Adana worth $1.4 billion. Mutual contacts between the two countries for joint deep sea drilling and seismic research off the coast of Algeria are also underway.

In economic terms, Turkey was one of the top investors in Algeria with Turkish investments reaching roughly $3.5 billion in late 2019. Some 12,000 Algerians are employed by Turkish companies that completed some 370 projects in various sectors from construction to chemical products, steel and textiles.