Abstract
The Middle-East-Africa relations in socio-cultural, economic, political and diplomatic terms has been in existence for centuries. However in the last decade, there has been increased engagement between the two regions perhaps informed by geopolitical and geostrategic reasons. Turkey, one of the main actors from the Middle East has for instance heightened its security intercourse with the sub-Saharan Africa. This study thus examines the performance of Turkiye’s bilateral security arrangement in Africa, discerning the strengths and weaknesses of such engagement and at the same time underscoring the need for a multilateral security cooperation. To achieve this objective, the study focuses on Turkiye’s peace building initiatives, their role in agenda setting and training of security agencies in the continent. The primary data used to corroborate the secondary sources was obtained through interviews with experts. Expert opinions among security officials, diplomats and scholars who are versed with the subject were sought. The data analysis entailed triangulation of the forms of data collected, that is, for both primary and secondary sources. The findings of this study depicts that though Turkiye has played a vital role in promoting human security in Africa, it has largely done so on a bilateral basis. The complex security environment in Africa however requires a shift from bilateral to multilateral approach. Turkiye thus needs to engage Africa at a multilateral level such as APSA. Turkiye-APSA relations would be symbiotic with the middle-east country sharing its experiences, resources, skills, technology while at the same time gaining more diplomatically. This relations would be key in enhancing the effectiveness of both early warning and early response mechanisms.
Key terms: Peace, Security, Kenya, sub-Saharan Africa, Turkiye