Sare Şanlı on Africa & Global Affairs

Israeli strategy expert Shay Gal penned a remarkable analysis last month for the France-based Africa Report. The focus of the analysis is what the author calls an "invisible" architecture of power, meticulously built by Türkiye in Africa step by step. Every line Gal writes makes it clear that he struggles to come to terms with Turkey's rise on the continent, which is based on a solid and deep strategy. Indeed, the purpose of the analysis is to discredit Ankara's activities with accusatory terms like "soft colonialism." However, the truths he feels compelled to recount are so concrete and powerful that his pen has, albeit unwillingly, ended up writing the story of Turkey's multi-faceted success. So much so that even an analyst sympathetic to Türkiye could not have depicted this picture so strikingly. Gal's most notable observation comes right at the introduction of his analysis: Turkey's influence in Africa is no longer limited to UAVs and milit...

In the last week of October, intense attacks in El Fasher, a city in northern Sudan, left more than two thousand people massacred in just a few days. It was only after this slaughter that Sudan managed to break into the global news cycle. News broadcasts, newspapers, and social media posts briefly covered the tragedy that has been unfolding for two and a half years. In some countries, small groups of concerned people gathered, holding protests to draw attention to the humanitarian catastrophe. Yet, until now, the world had turned a deaf ear to the tragedy in Sudan, where thousands have been slaughtered since April 15, 2023, millions displaced, women raped, and children struggling with hunger and deprivation. It was only when footage of the massacres committed by the Janjaweed militia was broadcast that the world seemed to suddenly "wake up." In other words, the international community waited for the death toll to become "sufficiently large" before it would hear th...

The world's promises to stop global warming are fading into silence within the forests of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). In the name of a 'green transition,' the planet's second-largest lung is being quietly erased. The DRC captures attention not only for its wealth of precious minerals like gold, cobalt, and coltan but also for hosting the world's second-largest tropical rainforest and one of its largest freshwater reserves. While the DRC has been in the news over the past year due to conflicts in its east and a US-brokered peace deal, another overlooked catastrophe is unfolding. Taking advantage of the country's weak governance, international companies have been systematically destroying Congo's forests for years. And the primary beneficiary of this timber wealth? China. Africa is the continent with the highest rate of forest loss in the world. Between 2010 and 2020, approximately 3.9 million hectares of continental forest were destroyed ann...

Tanzania, long known as East Africa's "beacon of peace and stability," is now grappling with one of the deepest political crises in its history. The streets of Dar es Salaam, where I peacefully walked just in 2024, are now overflowing with anger and chaos. The Tanzanian people I knew for their gentle demeanor have raised their voices in the streets during the election process that culminated on October 29, 2025, now shadowed by violence. I haven't heard from friends for days; with internet services cut, I can't reach anyone, unable to know if they are safe. The trigger for this crisis was the ruling party's move to systematically sideline the opposition. Key figures from CHADEMA were controversially disqualified from the race by a court ruling, fundamentally shattering public trust in the ballot box. Claiming their path to fair participation was blocked, opposition parties took to the streets. Peaceful protests, met with a heavy-handed security response,...