Turkey has been trying to establish a stronghold in Africa, using the “Opening up to Africa” policy it adopted in 1998.
Its Africa Action Plan, based on humanitarian aid, politics and economic cooperation, has turned toward west Africa.
As a scholar of migration studies, I’ve analysed the forms of agencies, social networks and transnational e-commerce between Dakar and Istanbul. I also look at the people involved, including migrants, networks of traders and “gratis passengers” – people who use their baggage allowance to transport small packages between Istanbul and Dakar.
