Turkey to raise Africa profile with Somalia engagement

Accompanying Erdoğan to Somalia will be Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu, who will also take his family and who later heads to South Africa and Ethiopia as part of an African tour.
Muslim Turkey, a rising political and economic power that straddles East and West, is far behind other emerging powers such as China, Brazil or India in the race for new markets in Africa.
But under Erdoğan's ruling AK Party government, Turkey has expanded commercial ties in Africa, as well as in the Middle East and Asia, and opened several new embassies in Africa.
Visits by world leaders to Somalia are extremely rare due to serious security risks. But Erdoğan, a pious Muslim who fasts in Ramadan and has become a hero among Muslims for his stance on Israel, has said it is "impossible for us to be spectators to the human tragedy in Africa".
It is especially dangerous to visit the Somali capital Mogadishu after Islamist rebels mostly pulled out last weekend, raising the spectre of more guerrilla-style attacks such as suicide bombings after their failure to win a military combat.
The government and African peacekeepers admit they do not control all of the capital even after the rebels' withdrawal.
The last leader to visit was Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni in November last year. Ugandan soldiers form the bulk of the African Union peacekeeping force in Mogadishu.
Ahead of his visit, posters of Erdoğan against the backdrop of the Turkish flag were hung near Mogadishu's airport, seaport and one of the capital's main thoroughfares.
"The Turkish prime minister's visit is a golden opportunity because it directs the world's attention to Somalia," Abdifatah Abdi Noor, a senior official at the Somali prime minister's office, told Reuters.
He said most of the food aid, medicine and shelters for displaced Somalis are from Turkey and more ships and flights are on the way.
"We will seek long-term development projects from Turkey."
RISK OF STARVATION
Some 3.7 million Somalis are at risk of starvation, the majority of them in the south of the country that has been in a state of armed anarchy for two decades, complicating any humanitarian relief effort.
Hundreds of thousands have made the dangerous trek to the capital Mogadishu and its outlying areas in search of food aid.
Turkish foreign ministry officials said the OIC meeting is aimed at galvanizing support for Somalia and drought-struck neighboring regions. Davutoğlu has said the famine in Somalia poses risks to other African countries.
Somalia's President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed is expected to attend the one-day meeting in Istanbul and then accompany Erdoğan to Mogadishu, Turkish officials said.
"We are expecting OIC nations to announce donations to Somalia during the meeting," a Turkish foreign ministry official said.
TURKS IN AFRICA
China and Brazil are fiercely competing for natural resources in Africa, mounting billion-dollar bids to secure natural resources for ravenous factories back home.
Turkey, one of the fastest growing economies in the world, exported $7.27 billion to Africa in 2010, or 6.4 percent of total Turkish exports, compared to 51 percent to the European Union, Ankara's biggest trading partner. Imports from Africa to Turkey reached $6.4 billion in 2010.
Those figures pale when it comes to China, which is doing $107 billion of business with the continent a year, India's $32 billion or Brazil's $20 billion.
Besides trade, Turkey is also seeking to raise it diplomatic presence in Africa. African votes played an important role when Turkey secured a seat on the United Nations Security Council.
Turkey, with its multi-party democracy and rapidly growing economy, is widely regarded as a model for development in other countries of the Muslim world.