His three-day tour of West Africa to deepen Greece’s relations with states such as Ivory Coast, Gabon and Ghanacompleted yesterday Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias. The contacts of Mr. Dendias were successful, as these countries have a common understanding that United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). The Dendia tour is also part of a wider effort to offset Turkey’s growing influence in Africa. It is no coincidence that Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu also visited five African countries these days.

Her efforts Turkey taking a leading role in Africa have already paid off, as the Economist usually reports that the number of Turkish diplomatic missions on the continent has almost quadrupled in the past ten years (from 12 to 43), Turkish trade with the continent has reached nearly $30 billion , 11 of which involve sub-Saharan trade.

Turkey, however, in recent years has gradually begun to use this important “soft power”, which it has secured by the above actions, and turn it into “hard power”. From the Sahel to Somalia, Turkish military forces and defense equipment are increasingly appearing on the battlefields of the African continent. For example, the Turkish army has a military base and training center in Somalia.

Perhaps Turkey’s most important partner in the region is Niger, which has become a major player in the fight against Islamist forces operating in the Sahel since the coup in Mali. Niger, one of Libya’s southern neighbors, has already bought a significant amount of military equipment from Turkey, mainly Bayraktar TB2 drones, and also ordered 12 Turkish Hurkus training aircraft. Defense systems developed by Turkey are very popular on the continent as they are much more cost effective than Western competitors and also do not have the same restrictions and conditions regarding their use (mainly human rights issues).