A Color-blind Tanzanian
Turks are everywhere. Wherever you go, from the Far East to Latin America and from South Africa to Siberia, it is very likely that you will encounter Turks.
Today, there are very few countries where you will not come across not only Turks, but also companies and language training courses established by Turks and especially Turkish schools. The fruitful results of the mobilization of civil society that started back in the time of Turgut Özal during the 1980s and the process of opening the country to the world, as reflected in our foreign policy, are visible everywhere.
During a visit with a group of newspaper executives and columnists from Bursa to Tanzania to attend the graduation ceremony of a Turkish school in this country, we witnessed similar pictures. We were glad to see increased Turkish activity in Tanzania, which has been mostly neglected by Turks until very recently. As you know, Turkey’s interest in Africa has been on the rise since the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) declared 2005 as the Year of Africa. Subsequently, Turkish Airlines (THY) included many African cities on its expanded list of destinations. The Foreign Ministry, which coordinates these efforts under this initiative, has appointed first-time ambassadors to more than 10 African countries where we did not previously have diplomatic missions. The Turkish Confederation of Businessmen and Industrialists (TUSKON), the rising star of Turkish business circles, has brought together thousands of African and Turkish businessmen on several occasions, establishing robust trade bridges between African and Turkish businessmen.
Analyzing information given by Turkish Ambassador to Dar Es Salaam Sander Gürbüz, one of the newly appointed ambassadors to Africa, it would not be wrong say that at the moment there is not a remarkable political and commercial relationship between Turkey and Tanzania. The $60 million Turkish-Tanzanian foreign trade consists of Turkey’s exports to this country, amounting to $40 million, and its imports from this country, with a value of $20 million. The volume of trade with this country, which is rich in mineral deposits including gold in particular and in which it is possible to conduct agricultural activity all year round, producing primarily cotton and flowers, should be deemed negligible. With THY’s launch of regular flights to Dar Es Salaam in May, our relations and trade volume with Tanzania are expected to increase.
To Ambassador Gürbüz, Tanzania offers great opportunities for Turkish entrepreneurs particularly in the construction of roads, waterworks, sewage, mass housing projects and other infrastructure investments. The fact that only abut 12 percent of the people have access to electricity implies that the country has also good potential for energy investment. A favorite African country for Western countries’ sympathy, Tanzania attracts major aid from Europe every year, and Turkish contractors can play an important role in translating this aid into infrastructure investments. With its spectacular natural assets, sun and sea available for tourism year-round, the island of Zanzibar, which is independent in its internal affairs from the United Republic of Tanzania, is another unique charm for tourism investment for Turkish entrepreneurs. Western tourism investors have already built more than 20 five-star hotels in Zanzibar and have made large investments on the island of Pemba.
The talks President Abdullah Gül conducted in Tanzania as the first Turkish president to ever visit this country, in early 2009, have boosted bilateral relations between the two countries. In 2010, Tanzanian President Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete plans to pay an official visit to Turkey, which is expected to further accelerate this momentum. The fact that both Gül and Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu told Ambassador Gürbüz, who was appointed to this post five months ago, to “make sure that the bilateral relations to be developed will be as beneficial to Tanzania as they are to Turkey” is another indication of the humanitarian sensibility that is becoming dominant in Turkish foreign policy, which we note with pride.
Although bilateral relations between Turkey and Tanzania have been negligible thus far, education is the exception. Indeed, the Gülen movement began to open Turkish schools in poor African countries starting in the 1990s. Actually, when the Turkish presence in Tanzania and Zanzibar is mentioned, the first thing to come to mind is these schools, the tireless teachers working there and the students attending them. The black children of Tanzania have adopted these educational volunteers and their families to such a great extent that they no longer view them as white. I think in order to understand what I am trying to say, you should listen directly to Muhammed, a Tanzanian student who graduated from these Turkish schools and who today is in medical school:
“At Ramadan one of our teachers from Turkey held an iftar -- the fast-breaking dinner. He asked me bring my friends as well. And I invited my friends from the neighborhood. They were surprised at my invitation, and when they said, ‘But how can this be possible as they are not black, they are uzungu [whites],’ I thought for the first time that they were really white. However, until that day I had never felt that they were white.”
That’s it. The sacrifice, sincerity and frankness of color-blind Turkish teachers and their families, who came to this poor country with great potential in order to reverse Africa’s bad fortunes, have made Tanzanians color-blind as well. If only we all could be color, race and culture-blind like these Turkish teachers and like Muhammed of Tanzania, then the world might be a beautiful place.
The volunteer movement, which was targeted by the ill-fated military junta network in Turkey, continues to be the pride of our country and of our nation all around the world. And those who targeted this movement continue to be shameful and disgraceful, as seen in the most recent case of the action plan document… Yes, we know God is great...
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