ANKARA — A high-level Turkish delegation’s visit to Niger earlier this week is poised to further increase Turkey’s footprint in the Sahel, and experts believe the region will emerge as a cooperation zone between Ankara and Washington, despite the frayed ties on display between the NATO partners in other regions.
The Turkish delegation, which included Turkey’s foreign, defense and energy ministers, Hakan Fidan, Yasar Guler and Alparslan Bayraktar, respectively, as well as intelligence chief Ibrahim Kalin, paid a high-level visit to Niger's capital, Niamey, on Wednesday, holding talks with their counterparts. The delegation also met with the country’s prime minister, Ali Mahaman Lamine Zeine, as well as Niger’s military leader, Gen. Abdourahmane Tiani, whose military council seized power in a coup d'etat last year.
The Turkish officials and their counterparts agreed to strengthen their cooperation on a wide range of topics including security and defense, economic cooperation and energy and mining. The two countries signed a declaration of intent to support and encourage Turkish companies to improve oil and natural gas fields in Niger, Bayraktar said after meeting with his counterpart, Mahaman Moustapha Barke.
Defense and security stood out as a significant part of the talks in Niamey. Haluk Gorgun, head of Turkey's Defense Industries Directorate (SSB), also took part in the visit, during which he discussed with Nigerien officials ways to enhance cooperation between the two countries in defense and military training, according to a Turkish Defense Ministry official who briefed reporters on the visit on Thursday.
