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Turkey’s strategic expansion into Africa through military, trade, and educational initiatives is raising concerns among analysts who believe it could be counteracting U.S. objectives on the continent. By leveraging ongoing wars and conflicts, Ankara is steadily increasing its influence across Africa.
Observers suggest that Turkey’s arms sales are predominantly driven by profit, often disregarding the potential consequences on regional power dynamics, especially in jihadist hotspots like the Sahel. This approach is seen as a factor that could further destabilize already volatile regions.
There have been multiple reports indicating that Turkish companies have supplied military drones to opposing factions in Sudan’s three-year-long conflict, highlighting the complex and controversial nature of Turkey’s involvement.
In a recent meeting in Ankara, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu were photographed shaking hands after a joint press conference, symbolizing the deepening ties between Turkey and African nations. (Ercin Erturk/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Gönül Tol, an analyst specializing in Turkey, shared insights during a seminar at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington. Tol, who is the founding director of the Middle East Institute’s Turkey program, remarked that Turkey is exploiting conflicts in countries like Sudan, Ethiopia, and Somalia to bolster its military, diplomatic, and economic presence. “Turkey ranks among the leading arms suppliers to Africa,” Tol noted, suggesting that increased chaos could further empower Erdogan’s influence on the continent.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, stated in October that overall trade volume with the African continent has shot up from $5.4 billion in 2003, to $41 billion in 2024. He told a business and economic forum in Istanbul that the state-backed carrier Turkish Airlines is literally leading the way into African countries for Turkish companies, now flying to 64 African destinations.
Erdogan told the forum that over the past two decades, “we have advanced our relations hand in hand, shoulder to shoulder, and most importantly, heart-to-heart, to a level that could not even be imagined.”
Somalis celebrate the victory of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan after he won the presidential run-off election during the celebrations organised by the government in Mogadishu, on May 29, 2023. (Hassan Ali Elmi AFP/ Via Getty images)
Drone sales to Sudan’s warring partners would only prolong the war, conduct which is directly against U.S. policy. Just last month, a State Department spokesperson told Fox News Digital that ‘the U.S. is working with allies and others to bring an end to external military support to the parties, which is fueling the violence.”
“Turkish drones, marketed as cost-effective and politically low-friction alternatives to U.S. or European systems, have proliferated across African conflict zones,” Mariam Wahba, research analyst at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told Fox News Digital.
“Reporting that Turkish firms supplied drones to both the Sudanese (government) Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces (the opposing militia in the conflict) underscores Ankara’s transactional approach: access and influence take precedence over stability, civilian protection or alignment with Western policy objectives,” she said.
Bayraktar Akinci unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), are brought together as a fleet at Flight Training and Test Center in Istanbul, Turkey on July 5, 2022. ((Photo by BAYKAR/Handout/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images))
In a 2025 FDD report, Sinan Siddi, senior fellow and director of the organization’s Turkey Program, wrote, “The deal between Baykar and SAF is worth $120 million, resulting in the sale of six TB2 drones, three ground control stations, and 600 warheads.” Siddi claimed the deal took place after the U.S. placed sanctions on such sales.
Although Turkish drones are also claimed to have been sold to Sudan’s RSF militia, the company said to have been involved is reported to have publicly denied making the sale. The company did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
A State Department spokesperson, when asked by Fox News Digital about the allegations said, “We refer you to the Government of Turkey for comment on reports related to any Turkish firms operating in Sudan.”
Fox News Digital reached out to the Turkish government but received no response.
A Turkish Airlines flight arrives in Mogadishu in Oct. 2022. (Sally Hayden/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
The TB2 drone reportedly sold to the Sudanese government is made by a company said to be owned by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s son-in-law. Experts say the TB2 is one-sixth the cost of a U.S. Reaper drone. Fox News Digital reached out to the company, but received no response.
The U.S. Africa Command’s Africa Defense Forum recently reported it “typically costs between $2 million and $5 million per aircraft, though total system packages — including ground control stations, communication systems, and training — often cost significantly more, sometimes reaching $5–$15 million per system depending on the contract. The TB2 is recognized for its high cost-efficiency, with operational costs estimated at only a few hundred dollars per hour.”
Particularly in Africa’s Sahel region, the FDD’s Wahba claimed Turkey is trying to return to the principles of its Ottoman Empire, which ruled for centuries and promoted the culture of imposing caliphates – areas where Islamic law is strictly enforced.
Wahba said, “On the whole, this is a worrying development that risks undermining U.S. interests. In addition to backing Islamist movements such as Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood, which does not bode well for its ideological orientation, Ankara is pursuing a neo-Ottoman foreign policy that is already taking concrete shape across parts of Africa.”Â
“Turkey’s arms sales across Africa are best understood”, the FDD’s Siddi told Fox News Digital, “not as ad hoc commercial transactions, but as a deliberate strategy to expand Ankara’s political, military and economic footprint on a continent increasingly contested by global and middle powers.”
Gambia’s President Adama Barrow, rleft, welcomes Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, right, in Banjul, Gambia, Monday, Jan. 27, 2020. Erdogan is in Gambia on a three-nation Africa tour. (Turkish Presidency via AP, Pool)
He said, “By exporting drones, small arms and security services to fragile states such as Sudan… the Erdogan government positions Turkey as a low-cost, low-conditionality alternative to Western partners, while simultaneously opening new markets for its rapidly growing defense industry. These weapons transfers are designed to buy diplomatic leverage, secure access to ports, bases and contracts and cultivate client relationships with regimes and militias that can advance Turkey’s regional ambitions.”
The number of embassies Turkey operates in Africa has rocketed from 12 in 2002, to 44 today. Wahba said the 64 African destinations Turkish Airlines flies to is a useful indicator. “As a state-backed carrier, its rapid expansion of direct routes into African capitals mirrors Turkey’s diplomatic and security priorities. The airline functions as a soft-power and access enabler for Ankara’s broader agenda.”
Wahba claimed this all should matter for Washington, “because Ankara’s model increasingly competes with, and in many cases directly undercuts, U.S. priorities on conflict mitigation and stability.”