President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. (Flickr)
As Türkiye and South Africa are regional powers, members of major international bodies and expanding their trade and cooperation, a large South African delegation, led by Deputy President Paul Mashatile, will visit Türkiye this week.
The delegation includes Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Ronald Lamola; Minister of Defence and Military Veterans Angie Motshekga; Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition Parks Tau; Minister of Tourism Patricia de Lille and the deputy ministers of sports, arts and culture; higher education and training and agriculture. They will work to strengthen economic and social ties during the Bi-National Commission scheduled for 15 October in Ankara and the 5th biennial Türkiye-Africa Business Forum on 16 and 17 October 2025 in Istanbul.
However, the key discussion will be between President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Deputy President Mashatile. Erdogan sees Mashatile as the next president and will try to convince him on a number of key issues, including intelligence sharing and defence agreements as Turkish firm Baykar, a defence contractor owned by Erdogan’s son-in-law, sells advanced drones to several African countries.
Erdogan is also expected to request the extradition of members of the Gülen Movement, an Islamist organisation, who have been conducting educational activities in South Africa for a long time. The irony is that Erdogan himself, along with his then economy minister Zafer Çağlayan, sought the assistance of the Gülen Movement community to meet South African officials in 2012 and after.
Türkiye’s powerful President Erdogan, in office since 2003, is known to be the foreign leader who has visited the African continent the most. Türkiye has an export-oriented economy and Ankara’s business engagements in Africa resemble those of China and India.
However, Türkiye’s political and security role on the continent is far more complex than its economic activities. Erdogan’s courtesy call on Mashatile underscores Ankara’s broader ambitions in the sub-Saharan region.
Erdogan’s ruling Justice and Development Party has declared 2005 “The Year of Africa”. The total trade volume between Türkiye and the continent grew from $5.4 billion in 2003 to over $36 billion in 2024. The number of Turkish embassies in Africa increased from 12 in 2002 to 44 as of 2022.
Türkiye has established its largest overseas military base in Somalia, strengthened its business ties with both West and East African countries and expanded its economic relations with nations in North Africa, a region that was once under Ottoman rule.
However, Türkiye has not been entirely satisfied with its economic and diplomatic engagement with sub-Saharan countries, a region rich in minerals and historically dominated by European powers.
South Africa is one of the key countries on the continent with which Ankara has been eager to strengthen relations. As Africa’s most industrialised nation, one of the leading powers in the African Union and a member of major international organisations such as the G20 and Brics, South Africa occupies a strategic position in Ankara’s Africa policy. Türkiye considers close relations with Pretoria essential to its broader engagement with the continent.
However, the two countries have fundamental structural differences. Türkiye is a Nato member and served as a key outpost for the US during the Cold War against Russia. In contrast, South Africa is a member of the Non-Aligned Movement. Moreover, the ANC defines itself as a leftist party and is ideologically closer to Türkiye’s main opposition, the Republican People’s Party, as well as other leftist and pro-Kurd political groups, than it is to Erdogan’s party.
Türkiye also competes with European powers in Africa, particularly in regions with deep historical, economic and colonial ties to Europe. Erdogan enjoys considerable popularity with many Africans and Asians due to his strong anti-colonial and anti-Western rhetoric. Ironically, however, the Turkish president does not necessarily collaborate closely with South Africa, a country that suffered under the apartheid regime and places human rights at the center of its foreign policy.
Despite Erdogan’s keen interest, Türkiye has not been accepted as a member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation or Brics. Erdogan’s policy towards Israel also reveals the pragmatic and interest-driven nature of Türkiye’s foreign policy, as trade between the two countries sharply increased after Hamas’s 7 October 2023 attack. In contrast, South Africa, a Christian-majority nation, took a bold moral stance by filing a genocide case against Israel. While Türkiye, along with Qatar and Egypt, has played a key role in mediating between Hamas and Israel, the country has not played a significant part in bringing the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu before international justice.
Despite Erdogan’s loud proclamations of support for Palestine, Türkiye’s actions tell a different story. While Ankara publicly condemns Israel’s assault on Gaza and claims to have halted trade, evidence shows that commerce continues through the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline, which supplies nearly 30% of Israel’s oil. Critics argue that Türkiye profits from this trade, earning revenue while Israel uses the fuel to sustain its military operations in Gaza.
Domestically, Erdogan’s government has cracked down on genuine pro-Palestinian activism. Activists such as Şeyma Yıldırım and members of the 1000 Youth for Palestine group have faced arrest, police violence and ongoing court cases simply for chanting “Free Palestine” or protesting against companies linked to Israel. Demonstrations against firms such as Socar have been met with heavy police force, while government-organised rallies designed to promote Erdogan’s image have proceeded freely.
This double standard exposes Ankara’s hypocrisy — a government that claims to defend Muslims abroad while silencing those who demand real accountability at home. As long as oil and trade continue to flow, and dissent is suppressed, Erdogan’s support for Palestine appears more performative than principled.
South Africa should therefore be cautious about drawing closer to Erdogan, whose actions often contradict his anti-Israel rhetoric. While South Africa has taken a principled and courageous stance against Israel’s occupation and ongoing assault on Gaza — paying a heavy price when US President Donald Trump gave President Cyril Ramaphosa and his delegation a hard time at the White House — Türkiye’s foreign policy appears to serve Erdogan’s personal interests rather than broader principles.
Turkmen Terzi is a Johannesburg based Turkish journalist, representing online Turkish Newspaper Tr724.