Turkey has expanded its influence across Africa and can no longer be ignored by Israel, according to Dr. Rashid Abdi, director of research at the Sahan Global think tank in Kenya, who spoke at the Africa-Israel Economic Forum held over the weekend. "Israel's rivals are expanding influence in Africa. Israel cannot afford to stay out of the arena," he said during the event.
Abdi came to Israel as a guest of the Israel-Africa Institute. In conversation with Israel Hayom, he revealed Turkey conducts launch experiments in Eritrea with ballistic missile that can reach Israel, among other destinations.
"The main message for the State of Israel is that Israel cannot afford to stay out of Africa, out of the Red Sea arena, out of the western Indian Ocean. Many of Israel's strategic rivals are advancing very strongly on the continent right now," Abdi said.
He added, "Turkey signed a groundbreaking security cooperation agreement with Somalia. There are thousands of Turkish soldiers stationed there, and they are building a space base that will ultimately allow Turkey to improve the range of its ballistic missiles."
Abdi added that an area north of Mogadishu has been identified, where the Somali president announced Turkey received land for port development and a space base. "If I were Israel, I would definitely be worried."
Turkey, he said, has "blue water capabilities" – Turkish naval vessels patrol through the Suez Canal, down the Red Sea and along the Somali coast. "For the first time, Turkey is not just a Mediterranean power, but also a power in the Red Sea and in the western Indian Ocean."
Eugene Kandel, chairman of the Board of the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, said at the conference, "Radical Islam operates in Africa too and tries to return Africa to conflict against the West. Israel must not let this happen."
Shiri Fein-Grossman, CEO of the Israel-Africa Relations Institute, said, "Israel can make a tremendous difference in Africa at a relatively low investment."
